The Adventures of Team WA at Beacon Academy
by Masked Spider
Summary: His name is Wayne Ursario, a half bear Faunus who wears a wolf helmet given to him by his father. He expected many things when he and his little brother Aegis stepped off the airship to Beacon Academy. But becoming the school's first two-man support team was not one of them. Join Wayne and Aegis in their adventures as team WA(wave) fights alongside team RWBY and all their friends.
1. Arrival at Beacon

**The Adventures of Team WA at Beacon Academy**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth. I only own my OCs.**

The time has come, he thought, the time to become something more. It was the only conscious thought he had before a sudden jolt, woke him from his sleep. With a slight effort, he forced his eyes open and removed the book he'd been reading from his eyes with one of his gloved hands.

"You finally awake over there bro," came a questioning but energetic voice. "Depends," Wayne replied, "If I finish rubbing my eyes and find a good looking girl in front of me, then no I'm not awake." A quick glance at the half-bear faunus in front of him was all he needed to confirm otherwise.

"But it appears that it's just you and your usual smelly self so yeah, Aegis, I guess I am awake." "I still don't see how you can sleep," Aegis said, "I've been looking forward to arriving here for weeks now."

"I am excited," he replied, "But I've also been kept up late the last few nights by this noisy half-faunus brother of mine who's been too excited to hibernate until early in the morning." "Well you don't always have to wake up for early morning training," Aegis replied, "I mean between training at home and Sanctum academy, you and I are,-"

"Still just in training," Wayne replied, "And if we're gonna become huntsmen we need to avoid making the same boat load of messes that got us kicked out of Signal academy and nearly Sanctum too." "Oh calm down Wayne," Aegis said, "This is Beacon academy we're going to, you know, best academy in the kingdom of Vale and all that."

"Well until we know 'all that'," Wayne couldn't resist using air quotes as he spoke, "Includes a large budget for repairing tons of damage and an incredibly patient, understanding staff, it would probably be best that we actually try to watch our step while we're here." "Yeah, yeah," replied Aegis with a slight smile, "Try not to overdo it and all that."

"Just try not to cave in the floor in the first week," said Wayne, trying and failing to resist the smirk that formed on his face. "Attention, we are on final approach to Beacon academy," said a voice over the intercom. "Here we go," said Aegis as he stood up and retrieved his bag.

"Just try not to do anything outright embarrassing right out of the gate," said Wayne as he pulled on his large white coat with gray furred sleeves and collar which, in his opinion, complimented his black, short-sleeved shirt and pants just fine. The other features of Wayne's outfit included a belt lined with dust canisters and pouches of various sizes, a pair of gloves marked with wolf claw symbols (which complimented the large bear-head crest on the back of his coat), and a pair of boots with steel on the toes shaped like bear feet. A rather conservative look, in Wayne's opinion, at least compared to his brother who wore brownish-red and gold armor plates on his front, back, and sides, as well as a pair of armored gauntlets and armored grieves on his legs, and to top it all off, his brother, unlike him, sported a large pair of bear ears out of the top of his head.

"Relax bro," Aegis replied, "I'll make sure you're on board with it before I do anything to embarrass us." Wayne rolled his eyes as he stoyed his book and hefted his large travel bag over his shoulder. "Let's just make it through the first day for now," Wayne said.

Wayne and his brother Aegis gathered with the rest of the soon-to-be students and exited the air ship as soon as it landed. The sight that greeted them was beyond anything that had been described to them. Beacon academy was like a large castle with several towers extending hundreds, maybe even a few thousand feet into the sky. Aegis gave a low whistle as they took in the large courtyard in front of them.

"What is it with these kingdoms and cities making everything so darn tall?" Said Wayne as he craned his neck to get a better look at the tower. "Maybe they had a lot of spare bricks," said Aegis, "maybe they have big egos, or maybe they're compen-," "Now you can stop right there," said Wayne, cutting off Aegis before he reached the obvious end of another one of his jokes.

"What," Said Aegis, raising his hands in a gesture of innocence, "you asked." Wayne thought about replying to that until the sound of commotion drew his attention elsewhere. A young dark-haired girl dressed in a black and red outfit with a skirt and a red hood appeared to have tripped over the luggage of a white haired girl wearing a white skirt and a white jacket, who was obviously scolding her and shaking what appeared to be a vial of red fire dust.

"What do you think's going on over there?" Asked Aegis, having just noticed the scolding as well. "Something that's likely none of our business and not even that serious," Said Wayne, hoping he was right. The sound of a sneeze and then a sudden explosion told him otherwise, as a large smoke cloud engulfed. "Ok, now maybe we should-," Aegis started to speak.

"Just keep walking," replied Wayne to Aegis as he picked up his pace a little. "But you don't think they need a hand over there?" questioned Aegis. Wayne wasn't against helping, in fact he felt quite sorry for the young girl, but he knew the moment they waltzed over there, Aegis would get bent out of shape about the incident, likely argue with and possibly even get in a fight with the white-haired girl, It was something he'd seen play out multiple times, all with varying results.

"If it were any other day I'd say go for it, but we can't just go making trouble on our first day, we haven't even been here half an hour for goodness sake," Said Wayne. "Yeah I know," said Aegis dejectedly. "Besides," said Wayne, "The problem appears to have solved itself." Looking back over, they saw that a third girl with long dark hair wearing an odd corset like outfit and a large bow atop her head, had joined in the conversation, which ended with the white-haired girl snatching the vile of dust the dark haired girl had picked up and storming off toward beacon. "You see bro," Wayne said as they slowly approached the large entrance to the academy, "Some issues can work themselves out."

The inside of Beacon seemed just as large as the outside as Wayne and Aegis moved toward the large stage in the middle of the auditorium. Finding a place to stand was a bit of a problem as all the students crowded around the stage, trying to get the best view they could. Wayne had never been comfortable in large crowds. Between the constant noise and multiple smells assaulting his senses, not to mention the slight feeling of suffocation, Wayne would rather have been in any number of other places. As for his brother, Aegis was shifting from one foot to the other, trying to see the stage.

It was times like these where Wayne was actually kind of annoyed that his little brother wound up being taller than him, and that wasn't even counting the extra inch or two from the bear ears protruding from his head. Both his and Aegis's annoyance was soon overshadowed, however, as Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon academy stepped onto the stage. At first glance, the man didn't appear to be anything special, wearing a green suit jacket and pants, a scarf, and a pair of spectacles resting on his nose. He held a walking stick in his right hand as he used his left to adjust the spectacles on his nose.

"I'll keep this brief," Ozpin began as he spoke about what brought them to Beacon, how they had wasted energy at some point or another, and how they had to realize their goals as huntsmen and huntresses. "He seemed kind of out there didn't he," said Aegis as they were directed out of the auditorium. "There really is a lot more going on in his head than we think, that's for sure," Replied Wayne. "I just hope he's one of those 'understanding' teachers you hoped would be here," said Aegis. "At this point, so do I," replied Wayne, "So do I."

The rest of the evening was uneventful as Wayne and Aegis made their way up to the designated sleeping area for the first years, which turned out to be a large, cleared out room in one of the towers. So far, still not enjoying the crowd, Wayne thought as he unpacked a few essentials.

"So what do you think the initiation test is gonna be like," asked Aegis as he pulled on his brown pajama shirt, completing the last of his set of bed time clothing. "Hmmm, dangerous, daring, stuff trying to kill us, maybe we'll get to save a damsel in a tower from a dragon," replied Wayne. Aegis gave him a look of annoyance as if to say 'really'.

"Look, I don't know Aegis," Wayne continued, "You and I both overheard a thing or two about a forest, but it's like Mom and Dad always told us-"Be ready for anything.'" "Yeah I know," replied Aegis as he plopped down on his mat, rather noisily, "But the wondering is gonna keep me up all night." "No point in that," said Wayne as he laid back on his mat, "Tomorrow, and the initiation, will be here soon enough, but more importantly, you and I need sleep in the worst way tonight, so this time could you at least try to go to sleep."

With that, Wayne rolled over to look at the ceiling and closed his eyes. Unfortunately, his sleep was quickly interrupted by the sound of a playful scuffle over by the far wall. "Oh now what," said Wayne as he rolled over onto his left side and opened his eyes. After propping himself up on his elbow, he discovered the source of the noise. Four girls, three of whom he recognized as the white, black, and dark haired girls from earlier as well as a fourth girl with long curly blond hair running down below her waist. Once again, the white-haired girl seemed to be attempting to scold the dark-haired girl, but the blond was having none of it, and the three of them were in a sort of verbal confrontation, while the black-haired girl, who had been reading a book Wayne was sure he recognized, set it down (obviously giving up on any more reading for that evening) and blew out the candles which she had been using as light to read. This is gonna be one weird year, Wayne thought as he rolled back onto his back and tried, somewhat successfully, to fall asleep.

 **Note: Hello everyone, as this is my second posted story and the first one I will be updating with chapters I should let you know that chapter length will vary as I try to figure out a good length and style in which to post them. Should anyone have any suggestions about my chapter or writing style simply leave me a message or comment (or whatever we use to communicate around here). Also, the story is just getting started, so if you're waiting for the action it will be here very soon. Thank you all and hopefully you will find this story entertaining.**


	2. Initiation Day

**Initiation Day**

The morning came quickly with Wayne waking up to the light cast by the sun, and to the sound of his little brother's loud, animal-like snoring. How he ever managed to sleep through any night when his brother snored like that was still a mystery to him. "Hey," Wayne said as he lightly nudged his brother in the side.

"Why's the sun up already," was the reply he got from Aegis as he seemingly forced his eyes open, stretched and let out a large, growl-like yawn. "So you still excited for the initiation today," asked Wayne as he gathered his belongings. "Well that depends," was his little brother's response as Aegis grabbed his belongings and leaped off the mat he had been sleeping on, "Do creatures of Grimm threaten our everyday lives?""I'll take that as a yes," said Wayne, standing up from his mat as his brother raced off to the cafeteria.

Beacon Locker Rooms

The first part of the day was about as uneventful as yesterday evening. Wayne and Aegis managed to get a large number of pancakes for breakfast, though the syrup seemed to have been taken and eaten by an energetic, orange-haired girl wearing a pink and white outfit, who was somehow managing to talk with her mouthful without choking on the pancakes. Wayne felt fairly sorry for the dark-haired guy with the green gi on who the energetic girl was talking too. After that, Wayne and Aegis found a place to stow their belongings and, after taking care of a few other minor details, they started to head towards where the initiation was supposed to take place. Before they reached the area, though, they had to pass through the locker-room as Aegis had decided to stow his weapon, in his assigned locker.

"Do we really need lockers for our weapons?" asked Wayne as his brother typed in the correct door code for his locker. "These things are supposed to be secure," said Aegis as he hefted his weapon out of the locker and placed it on his back. "It's not security of the weapon I'm worried about," said Wayne, "It's the fact that we have to store them."

"Well not everyone is paranoid Wayne," replied Aegis, "Some of us don't have a pair of weapons we can just holster to our sides, and besides," Aegis paused as he closed his locker door with a slight BANG, "This is Beacon academy, who'd be dumb enough to attack here?" "That's the thing," said Wayne as he and Aegis started walking again, "We can't just assume we're safe just because we're going to a secure school."

"I know I know," replied Aegis, "better to have your weapon and not-" DING. Aegis's sentence was cut short as they passed another set of lockers where the noise had come from, seeing some unfortunate blond-haired guy with what appeared to be an armored hoodie pinned to the wall by a red and yellow spear going through his hood. "Semesters barely started and we already got a guy pinned to the wall for trying to hit on a girl," Said Wayne. "Good luck with that," said Aegis, "That looked like Pyrrha Nikos's spear, meaning that guy either thought he knew what he was doing, or didn't have a clue who he was talking to." Wayne gave a quick snort and a smile to that as he and Aegis continued on to the outside of the school, were the initiation would finally begin.

Beacon Cliff

Beacon cliff was what the initiation area was known as, and it was, as the name implied, a rather large cliff with a really big drop off. Wayne felt several emotions course through him as he and Aegis approached the cliff, chief among them being fear, apprehension, and, oddly enough, a bit of excitement. Wayne reached around behind his back and unhooked the helmet he had strapped to the back of his belt and turned it over in his hands to examine the front. The helmet had been designed to look wolf-like, with several intricate blue lines running along the sides and over the front. The back of the helmet had what appeared to be grey fur, which was often mistaken for the wearer's actual hair until they took the helmet off. What Wayne lingered on the most, though, were the helmets dull yellow eyes. The eyes had been added by his father, just as his father before him had added one of the blue-lined designs.

The helmet had been passed through his family for more than four generations, from father/mother to son/daughter, and now it would be Wayne's turn to don the helmet and, if he so chose, to add to the helmet. All of this went through his mind as he turned the helmet back around and secured it on his head. It fit somewhat snuggly, but it was more comfortable than it appeared, even when Wayne hit the small switch inside the helmet to close the pair of face plates over his mouth.

"You think that helmet will work out okay," asked Aegis as he adjusted one of the shoulder pads on his armor. "This helmet's lasted from one first born to the next for more than four generations," replied Wayne, his voice more muffled and metallic sounding because of the helmet, "It'll take a few good hits before this thing breaks." Aegis would've replied, but by that point they had reached the cliff, where they were directed to stand on some strange, gray platforms with the academy's symbol on it. Professor Ozpin and the assistant director at the academy, Glynda Goodwitch, who was adorned with an old-style frilled shirt and skirt and, oddly, a cape which appeared to end in multiple, flame-like protrusions at the end, were present. Goodwitch tilted her glasses in a similar manner to Ozpin as they both explained the objective of the initiation and, more importantly, how the initiation was going to determine the teams for the next four years at the academy.

Wayne looked over towards his brother standing next to him on the platform, where Aegis nodded in understanding, obviously a little worried too, though neither would admit it out loud. "Chose your teammates wisely," said Ozpin as Wayne turned his attention back to the headmaster, "That being said, your first teammate will be the first person with whom you make eye contact." Well great, thought Wayne, we just got here and don't know a single person at this academy, oh well, no helping it now, just gonna have to not look a single person in the eye until I find Aegis. Wayne's thoughts were cut short as one of the platforms to his far left lifted up and sent the first initiate flying.

Oh yeah, he thought, he did mention something about a landing strategy didn't he. The platforms continued to spring upwards, each one sending another initiate arcing towards the emerald forest. Here goes nothing, he thought as he crouched lower. His heart rate skyrocketed as he was suddenly flung into the air, bringing with it a mixture of fear and excitement as the wind rushed past him. At that moment, Wayne forgot about almost everything else and just concentrated on staying in a spread eagle position as he began rapidly descending towards the forest. Wayne scanned the area, his eyes protected from the wind by his helmet, until he found what he hoped was a tall enough tree. Gotta time this just right, he thought, as he made slight adjustments in the position of his body until he was nearly headed straight for one of the many trees in the forest. Wayne was nearly to the tree when he readied the wire in his sleeve.

With a quick, swinging motion of his arm, Wayne threw out a hidden wire from his sleeve with an odd-looking weight on the end. The wire wrapped around one of the sturdier looking branches as Wayne sailed past the tree. Wayne quickly flipped forward in midair as the reeling of the wire grew slower, until it finally stopped, causing Wayne's body to slow down substantially, if not somewhat violently as the force pulled at his arm severely. May have overdone that, he thought as he fell towards the forest floor, straight down now that his forward momentum had stopped. Wayne reeled the hidden wire into his sleeve as he landed softly on another large tree limb which, fortunately, was able to take his weight. Not a lot of time to waste, he thought as the wire finished reeling back into his right sleeve.

Wayne knew his brother would likely be taking the straightest, and most destructive path through the forest he could find, so. Wayne leaped from his perch on the tree limb and kicked off one tree trunk after another, sailing through the air briefly with every leap. Hopefully going tree to tree will be fast enough, thought Wayne, he had no idea what he'd do if he had to fight alongside someone else. He and his brother had been training and fighting by each other's sides their whole lives, not because there weren't other people to train with, but because he and his brother had found that they worked better fighting together than they did with anyone else. Of course Wayne could hear one of his father's lectures now going through his head about how he and Aegis needed to learn a little more about fighting with unfamiliar allies. Well hopefully I won't have to hear it again, Wayne thought, if I can just find Aegis we should be able to make it out of this forest alive, hopefully.

Several minutes later, or what felt like it, Wayne didn't really keep track of how long he'd been hopping from tree to tree. So far no luck, he thought as he bounced off another branch, then a tree trunk. He'd known the emerald forest was large, but even he hadn't thought it would be large enough to conceal the path of destruction that would likely be left by his brother.

"Where are you Aegis," he said aloud. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks as a familiar scent caught his attention. Wayne landed on the nearest large branch and sniffed the air while also straining his ears for any sound out of the ordinary. Both senses were assaulted almost simultaneously as he heard the distant sound of gunfire going off, or rather, what sounded like a single high caliber rifle going off. Sniffing the air one more time assured him that what he was smelling was fire, meaning someone had already gone and set the forest on fire, possibly Aegis. If that is you Aegis, he thought, don't wander far. Wayne leaped off the branch and continued jumping from tree to tree, only this time, he followed his nose as the scent of burning wood became ever stronger. Soon he arrived at the source of the flames, a large clearing with several patches of fire steadily increasing in size.

On closer inspection, Wayne noticed several black creatures that looked like a cross between a wolf and an ape, with white bony protrusions coming out of their arms on either side. But their most striking feature was the large, white, mask-like armor plating on their heads which were decorated with red lines. Beowulfs, he thought, identifying one of the many creatures of Grimm he'd studied over the years. The entire field was covered with the howling monstrosities and the mere sight of them made Wayne tense up as he reached for one of the weapons under his coat. No, he decided, the fire will keep them busy for now, I still got a mission to carry out. Withdrawing his hand from his coat, he began leaping from tree to tree once more, navigating his way around the Grimm and the slowly growing fire.

This is getting me nowhere, he thought for the fifth time as he landed on another large branch. All the jumping was starting to tire him out and he still hadn't seen any sign of his brother since he'd started heading toward the forest temple. He was so lost in thought at this point that he almost didn't notice a pair of raised voices until he was nearly on top of them. Wayne landed on another nearby branch and turned around, squatting so he could get a better look at what was going on, and so he could rest his legs for a bit. Wayne had to do a double take when he realized the two arguing were the dark-haired girl with the red hood and the white-haired girl who had been arguing in front of the school, and in the sleeping area yesterday.

"You got to be kidding me," he said aloud. In a forest full of Grimm and they still had nothing better to do than argue, oh well, guess someone should remind them of why they were here, but how best to approach it. The two were in each other's faces now, when an idea occurred to him, a stupid idea but what the heck. "JUST KISS ALREADY YOU TWO," he shouted down at them. That got their attention as they turned their surprised faces upwards, searching the trees until they found him crouching on a branch, with an indiscernible smile hidden by his helmet.

"Hey," yelled the white-haired girl, "just what do you think you're doing up there?" "Well," Wayne replied as he leaped down from the branch, landing on the ground in a crouched position, "I was looking for the source of that sudden fire in the clearing back there," he said as he stood up and advanced toward the two girls, "You two wouldn't happen to've been the ones who started that would you?"

"There wouldn't have been a fire at all if this dunce here had communicated just a little better," Replied the white-haired girl. "Me, what about you, I never once heard you tell me when you were about to attack," the dark-haired girl shot back. "Well even if I had, you still probably would've attacked out of turn," said the white-haired girl accusingly.

"Ladies, ladies," said Wayne, "That's all well and good but right now we've all got more pressing concerns like, you know, finding those relics." "Right," replied the white-haired girl as she turned to Wayne, "and just who are you supposed to be?" "Oh right," said Wayne as he reached up and opened the face plate on his helmet, "Where are my manners." Wayne removed his helmet, revealing his very dark brown hair and blue, animalistic eyes.

"The name's Wayne Ursario and I was actually wondering if you two could help me with something." Wayne held out his hand, "And you two might be?" "If you must know its Weiss," replied the white-haired girl, ignoring his outstretched hand as she crossed her arms, "Weiss Schnee."

"And I'm Ruby," replied the dark-haired girl as she shook his hand with both of hers, "Ruby Rose." "Nice to meet you both," replied Wayne, "I seem to recall you two exploding or something in front of the school." "Oh you saw that," said Ruby as she glanced down and rubbed the back of her head, obviously embarrassed. "I'm amazed the whole school didn't see it," said Weiss, "I mean who does that, especially in the presence of an heiress." Something clicked in Wayne's mind when he heard the word heiress.

"Wait," he said, "You're that Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company." "Well who else could there be with the last name Schnee," Weiss replied, a little coldly, "Anyway we're wasting time, so what is it you want from us." A bit high and mighty isn't she, Wayne thought, but rich lifestyles often seemed to lead to that kind of attitude.

"Well I was wondering if either of you spotted someone who looks like a bear faunus running around this neck of the woods." "Believe me," said Weiss, "If I had I would know it, if not by sight then likely by the trail of indecentness those type of faunus likely leave behind." "Ok first off," replied Wayne, "He's only a half-faunus, but even if he was a full faunus, that doesn't mean he leaves a trail of indecentness, and second off, when was the last time you met a rude bear faunus?"

"I met one yesterday as a matter of fact," Weiss replied, "The brute rudely bumped into me and then had the audacity to call me a white b%$#% when I tried to inform him about showing proper respect for his betters." "Yeah that sounds like him," Wayne said, taking a mental note to talk to Aegis about that. "Wait," said Weiss, "Do you know that obnoxious, hairy, rapscallion?"

"That obnoxious, hairy, rapscallion is actually quite noble once you get to know him," Wayne stated, "and he just happens to be my biological brother as well." "Wait," said Ruby, chiming into the conversation, "You said he was a half-faunus, and if he's your brother then-," "That's right, I'm also a half-bear faunus," Wayne said, finishing Ruby's sentence for her.

"What, but you don't look anything like a-," Weiss started to say. "Yeah the doctors said that too," said Wayne, interrupting Weiss, as he reached into one of the pockets on his coat and pulled out a photo and a couple documents. "Don't believe me, take a look at the family," he said as he held up the photo showing him, his brother, his human father and his bear faunus mother, "And before you ask whether or not one of us was adopted, I got the documents that are supposed to prove that we both have the same mother and father."

"Why do you carry around medical documents," Weiss asked, with a look of confusion at the oddness of it. "Mostly I got tired of everyone asking me to prove it," Replied Wayne as he stuffed the documents back into his coat, "Of course if I don't find him out here soon, he might not be my brother much longer so," Wayne turned around to head in the direction of the forest temple, "We'd best get moving." "You can go find that half-faunus brother of yours," said Weiss as she started walking in a slightly different direction, "But I've got more important things to do right now, such as finding that relic." "Does that mean-" Wayne tried to ask.

"It means you're gonna have to find your brother without my help," Weiss said as she continued walking. "But Weiss," said Ruby desperately, "It's his brother, and you can't just," "We don't have time to be running around the forest looking for strays," said Weiss turning back towards Ruby, "Especially rude, smelly brutes like his brother." A look of disapproval formed on Wayne's face, knowing that any other time he would've argued with and even demanded an apology right then and there. But, since he was likely short on time he just set his helmet back on his head.

"Well if you're really going to be that way about it," he said as he closed the face plate on the helmet, "I guess I'll be on my way." With that, he crouched down and leaped upwards towards the trees again, landing on a lower hanging branch. "And by the way," Wayne shouted behind him, "the forest temple is in that direction." He indicated by pointing slightly to his right before leaping from the branch and continuing on his way, leaving the two girls behind as he heard the sounds of another possible argument beginning between them. I hope I have better luck finding my brother than I did breaking that up, Wayne thought, in the end I think I just gave them something else to argue about.

Wayne didn't hear many other sounds for several minutes, that is, until the sound of a distant explosion suddenly filled the air. Wayne stopped on a branch as another explosion rang out through the air. Well this seems promising, he thought, leaping towards the sound of a third explosion. As Wayne approached the source of the explosions, another figure darted through the trees to his right, then to his left, and before long a whole pack of shadows was following him. I don't have time for this, he thought, leaping towards the ground. As Wayne landed softly on the ground the dark figures also landed around him until he was surrounded. I really don't have time for this, Wayne thought, seeing that some beowolfs had caught up with him.

With slight annoyance, Wayne quickly reached into his coat and pulled out his two black and blue lined weapons, which he had lovingly dubbed "Crescent fangs." They weren't large weapons, especially in their sub-machine gun form, but they were versatile. Wayne didn't wait for the beowolfs to attack as he charged directly forward, raising his weapons in both hands as he squeezed their triggers, sending out a hail of dust bullets in front of him. Several beowolfs fell to the volley of bullets, as Wayne leaped over their corpses and continued running in the direction of the explosions. The beowolfs he hadn't killed were close behind him, some almost close enough to take a swipe at him. Wayne ducked a swipe from a beowolf to his right as he switched his right weapon into its sickle form. The beowolf attempted another swipe at him, but Wayne dove beneath the blow and sliced its head off in one quick motion. Wayne was almost to the source of the explosions when more beowolfs dropped down in front of him.

Wasting no time, Wayne shifted his left weapon to its sickle form and attacked with both blades simultaneously as he slashed his way through the small group of beowolfs in front of him. With another leap, Wayne leapt through the foliage into a small clearing, which had several small craters dotting the area thanks to a certain half-bear faunus, who was busy slicing up another couple of beowolfs similar to the ones that were following Wayne.

"Got more company," Wayne called out as the beowolfs that had been following him burst into the clearing. Aegis turned to face him without a word and raced towards Wayne as his own group of beowolfs charged at him from the rear. Wayne leaped over Aegis's head and came down slashing at the beowolfs that had been chasing his brother, while Aegis barreled through the other group, slashing with his own giant ax weapon, Ursus cleaver.

"About time you got here," Aegis yelled with his back turned to Wayne, "I had to navigate around a fire," said Wayne as he cut down another beowolf, "And we need to talk about your people skills again." "I didn't do anything," replied Aegis as he cleaved off another beowolf's head. "Calling someone white %*%$ isn't nothing Aegis," said Wayne as he slashed through the remaining beowolfs on his side.

"Oh that," said Aegis as he sliced through the last of his beowolfs, "I can explain that." Wayne turned and looked his brother in the eye as the last of the beowolfs fell to their weapons. "Well by the looks of things," Wayne said, "We're gonna have the next four years to work on your social skills, as a team." "Oh joy," said Aegis, rolling his eyes, "I can't wait." That brought a smirk to both of their faces. Yep, Wayne thought, I guess we're officially teammates now.

 **The end of the second chapter. Once again length is gonna vary a bit, but the next few chapters will focus on the initiation, so hopefully there'll be enough action for everyone. And once again, I hope everyone enjoys the story. (P.S: If anyone has any suggestions about my paragraph structure to help make reading the lines easier just let me know and I'll do that for my next chapters)**


	3. Escaping the Emerald Forest

**Escaping The Emerald Forest**

"So explain to me what exactly led to your little insult of an heiress?" Wayne asked as he and his brother walked along the forest floor. "Well she was being a white-," "According to you," said Wayne, cutting his brother off, "But that doesn't tell me why you called her that."

"Well you remember when it took me forever to get back up to the tower last night," said Aegis. "Yeah," replied Wayne, "You said you got lost on your way to the bathroom, though it sounds like you also bumped into a few people." "Actually I only bumped into her," said Aegis, "I found the bathroom and everything, but on the way out I ran into her and nearly knocked her over."

"And then," asked Wayne. "Then she started ranting at me about watching were I was going and that even a faunus like me should know to look out for people walking by," said Aegis, "So naturally I tried to set her straight about what an accident is and that I deserved just as much respect as she did, faunus or not, you know, the usual spiel."

"And you called her not only a #$#$ but a white # ## in the process," replied Wayne, "Why white # # $ anyway." "I wanted to see how she would react to a bit of pointed racism directed towards her own species, and the white hair and clothing helped a bit," Replied Aegis. "You and I both know better than that," said Wayne, "Just like we know that patience and forgiveness are better than anger and wrath."

"Well what should I have done?" asked Aegis. "Well you could've politely corrected her or just walked away," replied Wayne, "You and I have both dealt with our share of bullies and biased opinions and we will again if there are any here, but we can't just go stirring up trouble and making enemies after just having gotten to Beacon." "So what," said Aegis, "You think I should apologize to her?" "Heck no," replied Wayne, "I bumped into her for less than five minutes and I already don't like her." "So you also think she's a-" "A bit yes," replied Wayne, finishing Aegis's statement for him, "But let's try and not say it out loud for now." "For now," said Aegis.

Some Time Later

They encountered few other Grimm on their way to the forest temple, the ones they did encounter were quickly dispatched through a combination of gunfire, slashing, and teamwork on both their parts. Eventually, they arrived at a circular stone ruin with several old, half-demolished columns surrounding it. "I guess this is it," said Aegis as he leaped down off of the hillside, Wayne close behind.

"What do you think the odds are for booby traps out here?" Wayne asked as they stepped onto the stone circle. "Who in the world would put booby traps out here?" Asked Aegis, "They already got Grimm." "You never know," replied Wayne as he examined one of the many stone pedestals standing within the circle. Each pedestal had what appeared to be large chess pieces sitting on them, some were gold, while others were black.

"You think these are them," Aegis asked. "May as well grab one for the heck of it at least," replied Wayne as he cautiously picked up one of the relics, a black king piece. Wayne waited a moment, making sure the ruins didn't collapse beneath them before slipping the black king piece into one of the pouches he kept on the back of his belt for extra storage. "Well now what," asked Aegis as he stretched his back out, "We got a relic, I think, so do we wait or-," Aegis's question was cut short by the sudden sound of gunfire in the distance. "There's your answer," said Wayne as he began running towards the sound, Aegis close behind.

What felt like several minutes passed before Wayne and Aegis reached the source of the sound. By that point the sound of gunfire had died down, only to be replaced by the sounds of trees collapsing and inhuman screeching coming from what sounded like two large monsters. As they broke through one final line of branches and shrubs, they came face to face with the source of the inhuman screeches. Standing in front of them were two scorpion-like Grimm the size of buses, covered in white armored skin with strange red lines on stalkers, Wayne recalled, two of them.

Whatever had been occupying the large Grimm didn't last long as the pair of death stalkers turned their eight red eyes on Wayne and his brother. "Not good," Aegis yelled as they drew their weapons. The pair of death stalkers charged, moving rather quickly for their size. Wayne dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the first death stalkers claws while Aegis leaped over the other death stalker's head. Wayne fired both Crescent Fangs at the death stalker as he jumped, dove, and sidestepped out of the way of the death stalker's claws and large, yellow pointed tail.

This isn't working, Wayne thought, he kept firing at the death stalker but its armor was proving too thick for his dust ammunition. Changing tactics, Wayne shifted Crescent Fang to their sickle forms and charged the death stalker, bringing his weapons down in a vertical strike. The death stalker moved more quickly than Wayne anticipated as it covered its head with its claws. Wayne was only able to slash the claws a few times, with little to no effect, before the death swung both its claws outward, sending Wayne flying into a nearby tree. His back temporarily exploded with pain as he impacted with the tree. It's a good thing my auras on, thought Wayne as the pain quickly receded, that could've been nasty. The death stalker charged Wayne again, striking with its tail. Wayne ducked as the tail narrowly missed his head and swung out with his left arm, catching crescent fang on the death stalker's tail. Wayne was flung into the air as the death stalker pulled its tail back, allowing him to land safely several feet away.

Aegis suddenly landed next to Wayne, obviously having the same problem trying to cut through the death stalker's armor. "The conventional stuff ain't working," said Aegis as the death stalkers turned towards them again. "I guess we don't have any other option," replied Wayne, "But look on the bright side, we're finally in an area we don't have to worry about wrecking." Aegis actually smiled at that. One of the death stalkers took that moment to charge as Wayne summoned up blue energy around both his weapons, while Aegis produced white energy around his hand. Wayne swung his blades as Aegis held up his hand, sending out two crescent shaped forms of energy which quickly joined into a larger, sky blue wave.

The death stalker reacted in pain as the wave sliced it in half down the middle, the two halves of its once whole body collapsing to the ground as the wave continued on, slicing through several trees until it finally dissipated. The second death stalker, enraged, charged at them, letting out its monstrous screech. "Dividing line," Wayne said as he attached Crescent Fang to the wire on his left wrist and tossed the weapon in its sickle form to Aegis. Aegis caught the weapon in his right hand as the two brothers charged forward towards the death stalker. At the last moment, both Wayne and Aegis leaped over the death stalkers claws, bringing the nearly imperceptible wire under the death stalkers head. The wire, filled with energy from both Wayne and Aegis, sliced through the death stalkers head and tail as the momentum of its body carried into the nearby trees, where it finally stopped, dead.

"Just like we practiced," said Aegis as he tossed Crescent fang back to Wayne. "Just like we practiced," replied Wayne as he holstered his weapons, "Now hopefully whoever was here is still-," Wayne stopped speaking as he found his answer. A pair of torn up bodies laid where the death stalkers had been when he and Aegis had shown up, with little left of them other than some pieces of armor.

"Those ## Grimm really can pick a corpse clean," said Aegis as they examined the bodies. Wayne kneeled down to examine the bodies, lost in thought. Obviously they couldn't carry the bodies back with them, both were missing their heads, and there was no telling where the rest of the limbs had gone. Making his decision, Wayne pulled out Crescent fang and checked around until he found what he was looking for. Wayne cut as much of the armor off as he could, making sure he got the part with the crest on it. "You sure you wanna carry that back," asked Aegis.

"It's the least we can do," replied Wayne as he hefted the armor plate onto his back and started improvising a way to carry it with the straps. With a shrug, Aegis got to work on the second body, pulling the armor with the crest off. After having a little difficulty getting something close to a proper strap improvised, Wayne and Aegis were ready to head out again. "So where to now?" asked Aegis. "We head back to the cliff," replied Wayne as he set out walking, breathing a little harder than before. "Your semblance still taking it out of you," asked Aegis. "Not like it used to," said Wayne, "Those large uses do make me breath quite a bit harder though." "Well don't overdo it," said Aegis, "I'm not carrying you and this armor back up the cliff." "I'm fine," replied Wayne, "Let's just worry about getting back for now."

They made it a point to avoid the Grimm as much as they could on their way back. Even so, they still had to cut down the occasional pack of beowolfs and even a couple of bear-like Grimm called Ursa. Eventually, though they arrived at the cliff. "Is this the same side we launched from," asked Aegis. "Doubt it," replied Wayne.

"Ah well, we ain't that lucky any way," Said Aegis. "Well look for a place to climb," said Wayne as he advanced towards the cliff. "Or," Aegis said, stopping Wayne with a hand on his shoulder, "Maybe we could take the short cut." Aegis pointed his thumb to the right as Wayne tried to see what he was talking about. Over on a large boulder sat a pair of black bird-like Grimm with white masks lined with red on their heads. Nevermore, Wayne remembered, they were both at least eight feet tall.

"Please tell me you ain't thinking what I think you're thinking," groaned Wayne. "Yep, a ride straight up to the top," Replied Aegis. Wayne let out a sigh, "What's the plan." Aegis simply smiled as he pulled a vile of blue dust out and shattered it. With a wave of both his hands, Aegis formed about a dozen ice crystals in mid-air and sent them flying at the Nevermore's feet. The ice shards startled the two bird Grimm as they finally took notice of the two brothers. Enraged, the Nevermores leapt off of their rocky outcropping, and swooped towards what they believed were new prey. Wayne and Aegis jumped over the bird Grimm and landed on both Nevermore's backs, Wayne securing his Nevermore's beak with one of his hidden wires, while Aegis merely dug his clawed fingers into his Nevermore. They held on for dear life as the enraged Nevermores continued skyward, trying to shake the brothers off of their shifted his weight to the right, forcing the flying Grimm to change direction slightly. With a little more effort, Wayne yanked on the wire he'd secured around the Nevermore's beak, forcing it to turn towards the cliff. Wayne had to shift his weight almost constantly as the Nevermore repeatedly tried to shake him off.

After wrestling with the Nevermore for a few more minutes, Wayne finally got it to fly towards the cliff. Shifting his legs, Wayne sat up as best he could and yanked back on the wire again, forcing the Nevermore to fly even farther upward. The cliff came racing toward them as Wayne struggled to get his feet onto the Nevermore's back. With time running short, Wayne let go of one side of the wire, letting it unwind from the Nevermore's beak and retract back up his sleeve. With the cliff closing fast, Wayne finally got his feet onto the Nevermore's back and jumped off its head, causing it to let out a screech of what he guessed was terror as it slammed into the cliff face beak first. Wayne landed several feet from the cliff face, cursing under his breath. His brother arrived shortly behind him, nose-diving his Nevermore into the ground, effectively putting the winged Grimm out of commission.

"Let's do that again," said Aegis happily as he stepped off his crashed Nevermore. "I'm glad you had fun," said Wayne, "I nearly ate cliff side." "Oh lighten up," said Aegis, "We made it after all didn't we?" Wayne was about to respond when he heard the sound of several types of weapons going off at once. "Oh now what," said Aegis, having heard the gunfire as well.

A rather chaotic scene greeted them as they reached the other cliff side, which was overlooking a large, ancient stone bridge with a few pieces missing from it as well as what used to be a large tower in the middle of the bridge. Eight other initiates were engaged in combat with a death stalker and a giant Nevermore more than twice the size of the ones Wayne and Aegis had rode up the cliff on. The initiates had split up into groups of four to deal with the two Grimm.

"We need to get down there," said Wayne. "I think you may wanna hold up first," said Aegis as he grabbed Wayne's arm to stop him, "Take a look." Slightly irritated, Wayne looked down again in time to see the death stalker lose its stinger, which was then pounded the rest of the way into its head by an initiate with what appeared to be a giant hammer.

"I think they got this," said Aegis. Suddenly, the cliff side shook as the Nevermore crashed into it. As the Grimm tried to fly off, its tail was frozen to the cliff by one of the other initiates, a white-haired girl. "Hey ain't that-," Wayne didn't' finish his sentence as he watched the initiate's plan unfold. They had strung some sort of rope across two of the columns while one initiate readied herself on it with what appeared to be a giant scythe. The large improvised slingshot was held in place by the white-haired initiate using some form of black circle glyph. In the next instant, the glyph turned red, launching the scythe girl straight at the Nevermore.

Catching her scythe on the Nevermore's throat, the scythe girl started firing round after round out of the bottom of her scythe as her climb up the cliff was assisted by several glyphs from the white-haired girl. I know that sound, Wayne thought as the Nevermore's head finally slammed into the top of the cliff. With one more round fired out the bottom of her weapon, the scythe girl sliced off the Nevermore's large head, sending it flying upwards and landing right next to Wayne and Aegis as the girl landed with her weapon resting on her shoulders. I knew it, Wayne thought, it was Ruby, one of the girls he'd bumped into earlier in the forest. She hadn't noticed them yet, having turned around to look down the cliff side, with an odd assortment of rose petals seeming to come out of her hooded cape as it blew in the wind. "I guess I'll have to come up with a new nickname now," Wayne said, startling her, "After that, I don't think crater girl suits you very well."

The trek back to Beacon was an interesting one, as everyone made their introductions. Wayne had never been terribly good with names, but he remembered faces pretty well, especially when people like Nora Valkyrie, the orange-haired energetic girl, were asking them a million questions and jumping from one topic to the next in a matter of seconds. Wayne and Aegis were also introduced to Ruby's sister, a blond haired girl named Yang, and the dark haired book reading girl Blake.

Wayne and Aegis also introduced themselves to Lie Ren, a dark-haired guy who didn't say too much, Jaune Arc, a rather clumsy blonde who Aegis recognized as the guy pinned to the wall by Pyrrha Nikos, a rather famous student from Sanctum academy. Both Wayne and Aegis had actually watched some of the tournaments she had won. Of course all the introductions didn't go completely smoothly as Weiss immediately recognized Aegis from yesterday and Aegis of course refused to give any form of apology for insulting her. Weiss and Aegis, obviously didn't speak to each other much after that. The rest of the way back was filled with conversation about weapons, where they were from, what academies they had attended, and other seemingly trivial things that made everyone laugh. So this is what happens before we even begin classes, Wayne thought with a smirk, I think I'm gonna like it here.

 **And That Brings us to the end of the initiation. The team ceremony will be next chapter as I thought this was a good place to end this chapter. In the next chapter, we also learn some of the do's and don'ts of starting ones first day at a school which trains teenagers in the art of combat and monster hunting. Hope everyone's enjoying the story thus far and if you have any suggestions for me just leave a comment or other random form of communication. 'Til next time.**


	4. Formations, Fights, and Friends

**Formations, Friends, and Fights: Team WA's First Day**

Wayne and Aegis stood outside of the auditorium where the rest of the students and staff had gathered as Professor Ozpin himself cleared his throat. "So those crest plates were all you were able to retrieve," Said Ozpin, as he looked up from his electronic scroll. "All we could gather that was recognizable anyway," replied Wayne.

"We couldn't even tell whether it was a pair of dudes or a pair of girls," said Aegis, "The bodies were nearly half-eaten when we got there and they were not pretty to look at." "So I see," said Ozpin as he closed his scroll and set it back in his pocket, "Well it was still a noble gesture, bringing the crest plates back." "We were just helping as best we could," Wayne said, "Figured the families at least deserved to get that much back."

"Indeed," said Ozpin, "But right now we have a more pressing matter, namely what to do with your team assignment." "You mean there's no one else," asked Aegis, confused. "I'm afraid not," replied Ozpin, "You two were the only initiates to retrieve the black king piece, all the others were either killed or retrieved a different piece." "So where does that leave us?" asked Wayne.

"Well," replied Ozpin, "You two performed well during the initiation, taking out two death stalkers and multiple other Grimm along the way." "We got lucky and ran into a couple of the younger ones," said Wayne, "Had they been as old as the one Pyrrha and the others fought we might be dead right now." "Even so," Ozpin put his hand to his chin in thought, "I do believe there is a place I can put you two, even if it is a little different." Ozpin gestured towards the entrance to the auditorium.

"Make your way to the auditorium and I will announce my decision in there." With that Ozpin turned and headed for the back entrance to the auditorium, while Wayne and Aegis made their way in where the rest of the teams were gathered. "What do you think he'll do," Aegis whispered.

"I don't know Aegis," replied Wayne, "We were supposed to have two more teammates, but now it's just us." Aegis was about to ask another question when Ozpin stepped out onto the stage and gestured at the first team, a group of armored guys, to step forward. Ozpin then proceeded to call them out by name as their faces appeared on a large screen hanging from the ceiling of the auditorium.

"You retrieved the black bishop pieces," said Ozpin, "From this day on you shall be known as team CRDL (cardinal), led by Cardin Winchester." The crowd broke out into cheers as the newly formed team CRDL moved off the stage to welcome the next team, which consisted of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. Ozpin once again called them out by name, their faces also appearing on screen with a letter beneath them. "You retrieved the white rook pieces," Ozpin said, "From this day on you shall be known as team JNPR (juniper), led by Jaune Arc."

Jaune was obviously surprised as Pyrrha gave him a loving punch to the arm, which wound up knocking him over and causing a stirring of laughter among the crowd. Ozpin then gestured for the next group to step forward. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang's faces appeared on the screen as Ozpin called their names out. "You retrieved the white knight pieces, from this day forth you shall be known as team RWBY (ruby), led by Ruby Rose." "Well that's a surprise," said Aegis as Yang gave her sister an affectionate hug. It was then that Ozpin motioned Wayne and Aegis forward.

"Here we go," said Wayne as they made their way onto the stage, Wayne with his helmet under his arm and Aegis glancing around somewhat uncomfortably at the crowd. "Wayne and Aegis Ursario," said Ozpin into the mike as their faces appeared on the screen, "You two retrieved the black king piece, from this day forth you will be known as team WA (wave), one of Beacon academy's first support teams." A murmur went through the crowd and then scattered applause broke out. This is gonna be one interesting year, Wayne thought as they exited the stage, trying to decipher the meaning behind what a support team at Beacon was supposed to do.

The First Day of Classes at Beacon

Wayne was slightly disoriented at first, as his alarm awoke him from another dreamless sleep. Oh yeah, he thought as his memory of the last two days came back to him, today was their first day of the semester, the start of four years of education and training to become a true huntsman. Wayne pushed himself up off the mattress of the wood-framed bed and surveyed their new room. It was still dark, but Wayne and Aegis's half-Faunus lineage included night vision which allowed them to see fairly well, and it helped greatly as Wayne stepped off his mattress, taking care not to step on anything that might have been carelessly tossed in the floor when they had been unpacking. The room wasn't large by any means, but it was spacious enough for him and Aegis to walk around in without nearly bumping into each other trying to get to the door.

Wayne could see the beginning of a sunrise out the large window at the far end of the room, their beds sat on either side of the window. The rest of the room included a large closet, and a bathroom with a shower. Wayne and Aegis had moved the other two beds out of the way for the time being, seeing how it was only going to be the two of them for a while. Wayne made his way over to the closet where he retrieved his black shirt, pants, belt and boots. Wayne grabbed his holsters and Crescent Fang from under his pillow, and his jacket which he threw over his shoulder as he quietly exited the room, making sure not to wake Aegis, who was always in a foul mood when he felt he'd been awoken too early.

Making his way to the roof was slightly difficult as Wayne had only just found the path to it yesterday. But it was worth the wait as Wayne finally arrived on the roof, just in time to witness the sun rise. Beautiful first day, he thought, let's see how it goes. Folding his coat up and setting it aside, Wayne went and stood in the center of the roof, slowly bringing his arms and legs into a fighting stance. Wayne started with slow movements, working his way from one stance to the other with as much balance and precision as he could muster. Then, he struck out as though fighting an invisible opponent, bobbing and weaving as he executed different punches, kicks, and chops in all directions. It was then that Wayne pulled out one of his holstered Crescent Fangs, sweeping the barrel across the roof, twitching his finger as if he was actually pulling the trigger.

Wayne then shifted Crescent Fang to its sickle form as he incorporated several slashing maneuvers into the already complex series of forms. Wayne then pulled out his second Crescent Fang, following a similar process as he switched it from gun to sickle form. The form became its most complicated then as Wayne spun, kicked, and slashed in all directions, occasionally attaching the wire on his wrist to one or both of the sickles to perform even more complex maneuvers. Finally the form ended, after taking him multiple places on the roof, Wayne wound up standing on nearly the exact same spot he started. "Not half bad," Wayne said aloud to himself, "still got a ways to go though."

After about an hour of training, Wayne headed back down to his and Aegis's dorm room, hearing the occasional rustling of feet and the sounds of yawns as the rest of the students had started waking up. By the time Wayne had gotten back, Aegis was just getting out of the shower. "This is early for you," said Wayne as Aegis sat back down on his bed. "Still excited I guess," Aegis replied, "But still not excited enough to wake up just before sunrise to get some training in."

"You know we need all the training we can get," said Wayne as he hung his coat back up and grabbed his school uniform out of the closet. "Yeah I know," replied Aegis, "But I still think there's a better time than early in the morning, especially when I'm still sleeping." "Well we'll figure it out," replied Wayne as headed for the bathroom, "And besides, when was the last time anything less than an earthquake woke you up?"

Wayne showered quickly and put on his school uniform; a brown, business-like suit which he took an immediate dislike to, mostly because he felt like the tucked-in shirt and jacket restricted his movement, and the brown loafer shoes were still new and fairly stiff to walk in, and he never liked neck-ties. Checking over their schedule, Wayne found he and Aegis had several classes together.

"Guess they're trying to keep the teams together," Said Aegis as they made their way to their first class. "Who knows," said Wayne. "I just wished you hadn't signed us up for an 8 am class," said Aegis.

"Relax, it's only three days a week," replied Wayne. "Easy for you to say, you wake up early almost every morning," said Aegis. "I'd like to think it's a good habit to have," replied Wayne. "Well some of us like sleeping okay," said Aegis.

"Then nap in the academy's garden or something," replied Wayne, "But there's no sleeping once we get to class." Aegis let out a long sigh as they arrived at their first class, Grimm studies. The teacher's name was Professor Peter Port, or just Professor Port as everyone else called him. He was an enthusiastic teacher with well-groomed grey hair and a rather large mustache, dressed in an outfit similar to the school uniforms, only with a little more red.

"Be it monsters, demons, or creatures of the night, the Grimm have several names," Professor Port said, "But I simply refer to them as prey." If he was hoping to get a laugh it's not happening, thought Wayne. "What about # hole monsters or those mangy #$## Grimm," said Aegis suddenly. Wayne looked over to his brother, not bothering to hide his irritation as Aegis continued to list off several names that he and the many people back home called the Grimm when they were stirring up trouble, which wouldn't have been so bad if half those names didn't involve swear words. Either way the rest of the class started laughing as Aegis listed off the last few names.

"Yes I suppose you could call them that too," replied Professor Port as soon as the class quieted down, "But first I'd like to tell you all a story of a brave, handsome man, me." You're not serious, Wayne thought, as Professor Port launched into a tale about himself in his early days. He's serious. The story dragged on and on as the professor excitedly recounted each detail of his adventure. It would've been fun to listen to at another time, but as the story droned on it became harder and harder to focus on. Eventually, Wayne was only half-listening as he got lost in thought. Wrinkling his nose, Wayne scanned the room for the source of a strange but familiar smell that had been bothering him ever since he'd entered the class room.

Wayne soon took notice of a large cage on the left side of the class room, the kind you hold wild animals, or Grimm in. "The morale of this story," Professor Port said, finally finishing his tale, "Is that huntsmen and huntresses possess bravery, integrity, wisdom, cunning, and strength. Now who among you believes you possess these qualities?" "I do." Wayne looked over to see Aegis raising his hand. "What're you-," Wayne was about to ask when Professor Port interrupted "Excellent, step forward and face your opponent." Now I get it, Wayne thought, Aegis had smelled what was coming from the cage too.

Wayne watched as his brother Aegis, who had switched back to his combat outfit, readied himself for whatever was in the cage. "Let the match begin," said Professor Port as he swung his blunderbuss ax, breaking the lock and releasing a large, warthog-like Grimm with four eyes and some kind of bony plating covering its upper body, a boarbatusk.

"Don't make a mess Aegis," Wayne said. "Now you know me," replied Aegis. That's why I said it, Wayne thought as the boarbatusk charged. Aegis didn't move as the boarbatusk charged, waiting until the last moment to put up his arms and catch the charging Grimm's tusks. Aegis was moved back several feet before firmly planting his footing, stopping the Grimm in its tracks.

"Forward approach, I like that," said Professor Port, as Aegis wrestled with the boarbatusk. Eventually, Aegis was able to twist around, using the boarbatusk's weight against it as he flipped it over. The boarbatusk rolled over once before finding its footing and charging again. This time Aegis drew his weapon, Ursus Cleaver, slashing the Grimm's side with his weapon's suddenly appearing glass blade as he sidestepped out of the way. The Grimm didn't slow down as its hide proved too thick for Ursus Cleaver's blade. Aegis side stepped and slashed again as the boarbatusk charged a few more times, all to no effect.

"Weren't expecting that were you," said Professor Port as Aegis waited for the boarbatusk's next attack. The warthog Grimm suddenly leaped up and spun, rotating in the air like a buzz saw as it rolled towards Aegis. Wayne saw Aegis activate one of the dust cylinders in Ursus Cleaver's handle as the weapon suddenly projected a red aura near its top. Aegis smiled as he struck the ground, sending the spinning Grimm flying into the air.

"Oh nuts, duck," Wayne said as he hid under the table, knowing what Aegis was about to do. Striking upward at the falling Grimm, Aegis hit the boarbatusk's unprotected stomach while it was still in midair and activated the dust in his weapon once again. The Grimm suddenly exploded, showering several parts of the classroom, including some of the students, with blood and bits of Grimm.

"Well done," said Professor Port, somewhere between admiration and disbelief at the mess, "It seems we do have an impressive huntsman in training here today." Wayne raised his head back up, brushing bits of Grimm blood off himself that had somehow managed to still get on his school uniform. "I thought I said don't make a mess d## it," said Wayne. "What," replied Aegis, "Had to make sure he was dead." Wayne, like much of the rest of the class, could only shake his head at that. At that point, Professor Port declared class over for the day.

Their next class, Grimm history, started around nine and, fortunately for them, wasn't too far from the Grimm studies classroom. The Grimm blood Aegis had gotten all over himself and Wayne had evaporated by this point, like all parts of a Grimm evaporate when one of them dies or gets killed. The smell of Grimm blood, however, still clung to Wayne and Aegis as they entered the class room. Wayne wasn't sure how bad he smelled, but Aegis was giving off a smell so bad Wayne was almost certain he could track him from one end of the school to the other, without even having to get a scent first.

"So what do you think," asked Aegis, "Good idea to sit together or?" "Well since we smell like Grimm blood, I vote we sit far apart this time," replied Wayne as he scanned the room, suddenly spotting a familiar red hood, "Besides, Mom and Dad said try and make friends right." Aegis shrugged, but accepted Wayne's words and went to find a seat of his own. Wayne sat down in the second row from the front, insuring he got a good view without being too close to the front of the room. The professor suddenly came speeding into the class room, moving at an incredible speed.

"Good morning everyone," he said as he tipped his glasses. This teacher had dark green hair which stood up on its ends in the back and a cup of coffee in his hand. Unlike the last professor, this one wore a casual, business-like suit without the jacket, which was all Wayne had time to make out as the professor went zipping around the room from one place to another.

"I am Dr. Oobleck and I will be your instructor for Grimm history," said the green-haired teacher. Are all these instructors a little nuts, Wayne thought as Dr. Oobleck raced through an introduction to what the class would be like, what was expected of them, and what they would need to learn to be huntsmen and huntresses, all the while speeding around the room from one place to another. The lecture in Grimm history actually interested Wayne quite a bit as Dr. Oobleck explained the origin of several traditions that started the huntsmen and huntresses and how each of the four kingdoms differed from one to the other.

The note taking was challenging as Dr. Oobleck talked incredibly fast, but it kept Wayne from focusing on the passage of time and before he knew it, class was over. "So did you almost fall asleep in this class too," asked Aegis as they made their way from Grimm history class. "I actually managed to stay awake in this class a lot better than the last class," replied Wayne, "You didn't fall asleep did you?" "Nearly," said Aegis, "I thought it was never going to end." "You never were one for history," said Wayne. "Oh I don't mind history it's just when the teacher is zipping around the room it's kind of hard to keep up with him and the lecture." "It'll get better as the year goes on," Wayne said.

They had about an hour until their next class, so they headed back to their dorm, where they changed back into their usual outfits, having discovered the next class didn't require wearing school uniforms. What time they had left was spent with Wayne reading the book he had started reading on the airship outside of their next class while Aegis went off to explore the school. Wayne checked his scroll every so often to make sure he didn't go into the class late. At about ten minutes before the class started, Wayne picked up the clapping sound of footsteps belonging to what he believed were some sort of platform shoe.

Wayne caught the smell of expensive silk as Weiss walked into view. Wayne didn't bother looking up as she went past him into the class room. Shortly after that, Wayne heard several more footsteps as the students started showing up for their next class. Normally Wayne would've gone in the class room by now, but he was waiting for a particular pair of footsteps with a particular smell to them. About four minutes before the class started, Wayne heard the heavy footsteps he had been waiting for as his brother ran around the corner. "Not late am I," Aegis asked. "Not yet," said Wayne, pocketing the book as he stood up and headed into the class room, "But we will be if we don't hurry."

The inside of this particular classroom was very different from the first two. It still had the usual seating like the rest of the classrooms, but the inside was much larger than the first two classes, with a large practice ring in the middle with two large screens hanging above it.

"Hey guys over here," said a familiar voice. Wayne spotted Yang waving at them and, not wanting to be rude, accepted her offer of sitting down next to her and her sister, Ruby. Their teammates Blake and Weiss sat just behind the two sisters, with Blake looking fairly indifferent as always, while Weiss showed a slight hint of annoyance that the two brothers were sitting so close to her. Wayne sat Next to Aegis, who sat next to Yang as they both went into explanations of how their days were going. Wayne waved to Ruby who sat on the other side of Yang, looking fairly distracted.

"You ok over there," asked Wayne, snapping Ruby back into reality. "Oh yeah I was just thinking was all," she replied. "Don't hurt yourself," Wayne said teasingly. "Hey what's that supposed to mean," Ruby said, with a half-annoyed, half-curious face. At that moment, Glynda Goodwitch walked out into the center of the classroom, bringing all other conversation to an end.

"Good morning everyone, as you know I am Glynda Goodwitch and I will be overseeing much of your combat training, as well as explaining different styles of dueling." Ms. Goodwitch went on to explain the evolution of duels and the importance of tournaments, until she finally reached her main point. "Now one of the most important things about becoming huntsman and huntresses is honing your skills, and sparring is one of the best ways to see where you stand among others, so let us begin our first sparring match of this class for the semester."

Pressing a symbol on her scroll, one of the large screens above the sparring ring flipped on, scrolling through images of each of the students at an incredibly quick pace. Eventually, the speed of the pictures slowed until they finally stopped on a student, Weiss Schnee. "It seems you're up first Miss Schnee," said Miss Goodwitch. Weiss calmly made her way to the arena from her seat, her weapon hanging at her side.

"Now who would like to step into the ring with Miss Schnee?" Wayne knew what was coming and set his hand on his brother's shoulder to prevent him from standing up. "Oh come on bro," said Aegis disappointedly. "I know you wanna knock her ego down a peg or two," said Wayne as he slowly stood up, "But you've already made one mess today." "Do we have a challenger," asked Ms. Goodwitch.

"Yeah I'll do it," said Wayne, standing up straight. "Excellent, please make your way to the ring," instructed Goodwitch. Wayne looked back at Aegis, who was somewhere between disappointed and annoyed. "Don't worry," whispered Wayne as he roughly patted his brother's shoulder once, "I'll piss her off for ya." That got a small smile from Aegis as Wayne made his way to the sparring ring. Here we go he thought as he stepped into the sparring circle, this time not donning his helmet.

"No helmet today," asked Weiss as she drew her weapon. "Nah," replied Wayne, "It's only sparring and besides," Wayne crossed his arms trying to think of something irritating to say, "You wouldn't get to see my winning smile." Weiss rolled her eyes at that comment, exactly the reaction Wayne had been looking for. Okay Wayne, he thought, time to forget almost everything you've been taught about acting overconfident and showing respect for your opponent.

"Combatants ready," said Ms. Goodwitch, "Let the match begin." Weiss assumed a basic fencer's stance as Wayne remained standing where he was, not bothering to draw his weapons while he kept his arms crossed. Waiting a few more moments, Weiss finally charged with a forward thrust of her weapon. Please work, Wayne thought inwardly as he threw his hands up suddenly. "Wait one second," he said, forcing Weiss to stop with her weapon only inches from Wayne's chest.

"What, the match has started," Weiss exclaimed, visibly irritated. "You see that's why I think you should know your shoe's untied," Said Wayne. "What," replied Weiss? "Your shoe's untied," Wayne said again as he pointed downwards. "My shoes don't tie," said Weiss, still irritated. "Well you still need to look down," replied Wayne, acting embarrassed.

"Why should I look down, you're probably just trying to trick me," Said Weiss impatiently. Wayne let out a groan, "Because your skirt's come undone and I can see all the way up your leg." "What," Weiss's eyes went wide as she looked down frantically at her combat skirt. Wayne, seizing the opportunity, stepped forward and turned, grabbing her left arm and weapon as he spun right and flipped her over his shoulder, grabbing her weapon from her hand as he went. Weiss rolled over to see Wayne standing over her with her own weapon inches from her face.

"You're right it was a trick," Wayne said with a small smirk on his face as he heard uncontrollable laughter from his brother back at his seat. "You douche bag," Aegis yelled. "I know I know," Wayne said, waving his left hand in the air as he kept his attention on Weiss, "I'm a prick today." "You've got some nerve pulling something like that," Weiss practically yelled.

"Maybe," said Wayne as he pointed Weiss's weapon closer to her face, "But one thing I've learned growing up is that not everyone fights fair." Wayne suddenly noticed the scar on Weiss's left eye as he used her rapier-like weapon to push her hair out of the way, studying it for a moment. "In a normal duel this would be the time an opponent would normally have to surrender," said Ms. Goodwitch suddenly as she reached for the button on her scroll.

"Who said we were done," said Wayne as he tossed the weapon in the air and caught it by the blade, presenting the handle to the heiress who grudgingly accepted it. Wayne walked several paces away where he finally drew his weapons from the holsters hidden in his coat. "For real this time," Wayne said as Weiss stood up and re-assumed her stance. Wayne attacked first this time, firing with his right weapon. Weiss nimbly leaped out of the way as she bobbed and weaved around the incoming gunfire as Wayne switched from firing one gun to another. Wayne thought he had her corralled for a moment when he fired both weapons simultaneously, only to have the rounds repelled by a suddenly appearing blue shield his opponent had produced. Wayne stopped firing when it was obvious the rounds were ineffective, as the heiress charged forward with another lunging strike similar to her first attack. Quickly shifting his weapons to sickle form, Wayne swung upward with both weapons, blocking the blow and forcing Weiss back a few feet. Oh yeah, Wayne thought, surprised by the effectiveness of his blocking maneuver, I'm not fighting Aegis right now. Wayne didn't have much more time to think, however, as the heiress quickly recovered and advanced on him with a series of horizontal and vertical strikes and jabs.

Aegis watched the match with a mixture of enjoyment and slight irritation. Enjoyment at the fact that Wayne was actively trying to piss off an obviously arrogant, probably spoiled brat, but was irritated by the fact that Wayne didn't press his advantages more as he blocked another series of strikes.

"Your brother's not half bad," said Yang suddenly. "Yeah he can be pretty sneaky," replied Aegis. "But honestly, who do you think's gonna win this one, Weiss has him almost completely on the defensive," Said Yang. "Look closer," replied Aegis, "Wayne's knocking away those strikes without much of a problem, in fact he could easily go on the offensive right now if he wanted too." "He could," asked Ruby, from the other side of Yang.

"Yeah it's this annoying habit of his during sparring matches and fights, especially against new opponents," explained Aegis, recalling several similar matches he had had with his older brother, "Unlike me he likes to analyze his opponents, trying to find a weak spot, you know the type that take their time to figure out an opponent's patterns and such."

"So he is holding back," said Blake suddenly from behind Aegis. "Yeah you caught on to that," replied Aegis without looking back, "He likes to save his full strength for when he deems it absolutely necessary, kind of dumb if you ask me but I like taking my opponents down as quickly as possible, while Wayne," Aegis watched as his brother started moving from one end of the ring to the other, occasionally making a stupid quip or calling his opponent by some dumb nickname he knew would infuriate her as he continued to block her strikes, "Well Wayne is just having too much fun right now."

He was having too much fun, Wayne thought as he sidestepped another couple of strikes from Weiss. Sure he was having to keep his guard up constantly against Weiss's speed and precision, but she lacked the physical strength Wayne was used to dealing with when he sparred with his younger, but annoyingly strong, brother.

"You seem a little tense today," said Wayne as he blocked a horizontal strike with his Crescent Fang, "Something on your mind, or is your ego just wounded from that skirt trick." "My ego is fine," Weiss replied, angrily swinging her rapier even quicker, "There's just a buffoon who won't shut up." That's it, Wayne thought, make her mad, get her unfocused.

"We say 'idiot' or 'douche' down here," said Wayne, stepping out of the way of an angry, but less precise, thrust, "Or even 'dick' if one is annoying enough." "All I need right now," Weiss said between swings, "Is for your rapscallion mouth to stay shut." Wayne smirked as he blocked each blow, keeping note that each series of attacks grew less precise the angrier she got. Just a little more should do it, he thought, an idea forming as he sidestepped her once again. "Well I guess we can't all be princesses now can we, Snowflake," he said with the stupidest smirk he could muster on his face.

"Oh you insufferable," Weiss couldn't finish the sentence because of how flustered she was, instead spinning the dust cylinder that rested above the handle on her weapon, causing a red aura to form around the weapon. The angered heiress charged Wayne at full speed as he narrowly rolled away from the flaming blade, which left a huge scorch mark where he'd been standing only moments before. Yeah that did it, Wayne thought, as his angered opponent spun the cylinder on her weapon again, this time causing a large glyph to appear in the air in front of her as several orbs suddenly shot out towards Wayne.

Charging what energy he could into both Crescent Fangs, Wayne slashed through each one of the orbs, narrowly avoiding the last one which had been aimed at his head, having only enough time to notice his opponent had spun her cylinder again and, after a quick twirl, stabbed her blade into the ground, causing ice crystals to rapidly form in Wayne's direction. Having just finished slashing the orbs, Wayne only had enough time to move his body out of the way, while his left hand, weapon and all, got trapped in a large crystal of ice. Well that may have worked too well, he thought as Weiss leaped to his right side, her weapon only a few inches from his throat.

"Now you're going to apologize and then you're going to surrender," The angry heiress stated. "Now you can't be this mad at a guy for a few jokes and a little nickname," Wayne said as he concentrated on the only trick he had at the moment. "You've shown nothing but disrespect and indecency towards your opponent this whole match," Weiss replied, holding her rapier even closer to Wayne's throat, "We're sparring, not playing around."

Wayne could feel the energy build up in his hand and weapon as the ice around it melted slowly. "Okay for starters," said Wayne, "It's called goading, using my opponent's anger against them, hence all the dumb jokes, and secondly." Wayne released the energy from his weapon, blowing the ice apart and surprising his opponent. Wayne knocked his surprised opponent's weapon aside as he charged forward, tackling her to the ground and holding his left weapon just over her throat as he shifted his right weapon to gun form and pointed it at her face.

"I do respect you as a fighter," Wayne said, "But you're arrogance makes it a little harder to respect you as a person." Suddenly the lights in the arena flashed off as the classroom was suddenly lit again. "I believe we have a winner for this match," said Ms. Goodwitch. Wayne holstered his weapons as he stood up, offering his hand to help Weiss up. Weiss knocked his hand away as she stood up angrily and headed back towards her seat.

"You're not a bad person Weiss," Wayne said, causing her to stop for a second, "But if you let it, that attitude of yours will keep you alone for the rest of your life." She said nothing as she continued back to her seat, with Wayne following shortly afterward. Wayne and Aegis watched a few more matches with the rest of the class, occasionally engaging in what was now fairly awkward conversation with Yang and Ruby, and Blake when they actually asked her a direct question. Weiss obviously refused to talk much, if at all as she sat contemplating something. Soon, however, the last sparring match came to a close and with it, the class was dismissed.

Beacon Cafeteria

"Gosh finally time for food," exclaimed Aegis as they made their way into the school's large cafeteria. "Where should we sit anyway?" asked Aegis as they made their way through the food line. "Probably not a good idea to sit with team RWBY," said Wayne, "Intentionally pissing someone off can put the rest of the team in a foul mood."

"Oh come on Wayne," said Aegis, "You gotta take a few risks if you're gonna make any friends around this place." "Well it's not like I could stop you from sitting with them," replied Wayne, "I just don't think I'd be wanted over there today." "Suit yourself," said Aegis as they made their way through the numerous rows of tables. Wayne managed to find an empty table and sat down at it, wasting little time as he went to work on his food.

"By the way how's your hand," asked Aegis, as he sat down across from Wayne. "About as stiff as a board and still throbbing a little," replied Wayne as he curled and uncurled the fingers of his left hand with slight difficulty, "It's not every day you get your hand frozen in a block of ice, but all in all the damage could've been worse." Aegis started rambling a bit about how they should call Weiss ice queen now, but Wayne wasn't listening as well at that point as he caught the movement of teams RWBY and JNPR sitting down a couple tables away from them. Aegis suddenly cut his rant short as he quickly realized Wayne was glancing occasionally at the other table.

"You think they hate us now or something?" Asked Aegis. "No, just wondering if I should apologize," Replied Wayne as he took another bite of his food, "I mean they are the only people we really know around Beacon and-," "Oh don't start with this feeling sorry for no reason stuff again," said Aegis, "I'm sure everyone else realizes you were just messing around at that sparring match." Aegis's face suddenly shifted into a look of thoughtfulness for a second before he spoke again, this time leaning in with his left hand up to the side of his mouth.

"You aren't afraid they're gonna think your little goading strategy was some kind of flirting do you," whispered Aegis happily. "At what point in that match did it look like I was flirting, you know I can't flirt?" said Wayne, a sour expression crossing his face. "I know you can't flirt, but," Aegis pointed a thumb towards team RWBY and JNPR's tables, "They don't know that, and calling her Snowflake probably didn't help."

Wayne put his fingers to the bridge of his nose before he spoke. "We are gonna need to explain that at some point, but probably not today-," Wayne and Aegis looked over as a small figure with a red hood nervously approached them. "Oh hey Ruby," said Aegis. "Everything all right," Asked Wayne.

"Oh yeah everything's fine it's just well," she shifted from one foot to the other as she thought of what to say, "I came over here to ask if you two wanted two sit with us." Wayne and Aegis almost choked on their food before speaking. "Are you sure," asked Wayne, rubbing the back of his head. "You know our track record with some of your friends ain't exactly-," Aegis tried to think of a word. "Stellar," Wayne finished for Aegis, "We probably shouldn't, oh don't do that-," Ruby had suddenly developed a pair of sad puppy dog eyes.

"We just don't," puppy dog eyes, "want to," adorable puppy dog eyes, "Oh all right," said Wayne, finally giving in, "Darn your puppy dog eyes." "Oh thank you," exclaimed Ruby, a look of glee crossing her face as Wayne and Aegis moved over to sit with the two teams. "Oh you two actually came," said Nora excitedly, "We haven't actually talked to you guys in almost a whole day and a half, that's like a really long time and-," Nora continued to drone on excitedly. "She always like this," asked Aegis. "You have no idea," replied Ren.

"Oh you two should be thanking her," said Yang, "After all it was her and my idea to ask you two over." "Oh so you two put Ruby up to this," said Wayne. "Well kind of-," said Ruby, "You guys seemed nice when we met you at the forest and I thought we should all stick together since we're all just first years." "It sounds stupid if you ask me," said Weiss, finally speaking after sitting at the end of the table.

"You think that sounds stupid," replied Aegis, "Let me tell you a story about stupid." "Oh here we go," said Wayne as Aegis launched into a tale of one of their many mishaps at Signal and Sanctum Academy. "No way," said Yang as Aegis finished the story, "That was you guys that blew out that wall?"

"It was mostly Aegis," said Wayne, "I just deflected one attack in the wrong direction." "They cancelled that class for two days because of that," said Yang, "Gave me loads of free time." "Yeah too bad the teachers didn't see it that way," Said Wayne.

"Well what're you gonna do?" said Nora happily, "Some teachers just wake up on the wrong side of the bed every day." That made nearly everyone laugh. "And that was during the first month," said Aegis as he continued into another story. Wayne laughed and joked with everyone else throughout the rest of the lunch period, growing less worried as the conversation carried on. By the end of the lunch period, Wayne's sides hurt from all the laughing as he and Aegis, sadly, had to head back to their dorm to get ready for the rest of that days classes. All in all, Wayne decided as they finished their last class, today turned out to be a pretty good first day.

 **Team WA is formed and they have survived their first day, but not without a few mishaps. Check in next time as we learn a few of team WA's creative solutions to social troubles. As always, if there is anyway I can make the story easier to read just message/comment. 'Til next time.**


	5. Honey Bombs and Other Assorted Tricks

**Honey Bombs and Other Assorted Tricks**

"So how many books have you read so far," asked Wayne as he finished examining the book before handing it back to Blake. "I haven't really kept count," Replied Blake as they walked down the hall. Wayne had bumped into Blake on the way back from class and, not really knowing what to say to the mysterious dark-haired girl, had started asking about the books Blake had read.

"What about that one you were reading the first day," asked Wayne, "Wasn't that Grimm Soul or something?" "You know about that book?" asked Blake, seeming genuinely surprised. "It deviates a bit from the original legend," said Wayne, "With a lot of extra details and several name changes." "The author's note said it was based on an old legend," replied Blake.

"The legend of Grimm Wolf," said Wayne, "At least I think so anyway." "I've never heard that legend, where's it from?" Asked Blake. "It's an old legend passed around outside of the kingdoms, mostly around the outside of the City of Vale to be specific," Wayne said as he rubbed his chin as he recalled the legend, "Long story short, Grimm Wolf was a curse that began with the family De Wolfe a couple hundred years ago, when Argus De Wolfe was tricked into devouring Grimm Flesh, eventually dooming the rest of his family to a curse that went from one generation to another, turning one person from each generation into a Grimm monster."

"You seem to know an awful lot about it," said Blake. "Well it was like one of those bed time stories to scare little kids when I was growing up," replied Wayne as he reached his door, "But like most bed time stories you're told growing up, it's probably not true." A look of understanding crossed Blake's face as she turned to head towards team RWBY's dorm room. Wayne wrinkled his nose as he caught the scent again, the same scent he'd been smelling since he started hanging out with team RWBY. He didn't have time to think about it long though as Aegis came running down the opposite end of the hallway.

"Woo there," said Aegis as he stopped short of running into Blake, "Sorry kind of had to make a quick exit from the locker room." "No it's okay," replied Blake as she stepped around Aegis, "I was just heading back to the dorm." Aegis nodded his head, but before Blake could walk around him, Aegis suddenly poked her on the top of the head where her bow was. "Hey," she exclaimed almost jumping.

"Sorry," said Aegis, "I was just wondering where you got that bow." "It was just something I picked up one day," replied Blake as she headed back to her dorm. "Okay what was that about," asked Wayne as they entered their own dorm. "I was checking her," replied Aegis. "Checking her for what, extra hair under her bow?" Wayne asked.

"No, I was checking for an extra set of ears, specifically animal ears," Replied Aegis. "Wait you think she might be a faunus?" asked Wayne. "You mean you haven't noticed how she smells," replied Aegis. Wayne thought for a moment. "Yeah I've noticed she doesn't smell exactly human," said Wayne. "Yeah, it's been driving me crazy all week," said Aegis, "Well that and the prank I just pulled."

"One thing at a time," said Wayne. "Right, well as you saw, I poked her to see what I could find and-," Aegis paused for effect. "And," Wayne asked, slightly annoyed. "And now I'm sure, she's a cat faunus." Finished Aegis. Wayne put his hand to his chin in thought. "Why do you think she's hiding her ears anyway?" Asked Aegis. "Your guess is as good as mine," replied Wayne, "But it's probably best if we don't pry right now, after all we just made our first friends at Beacon."

"But don't you think-," Aegis started to say, but Wayne quickly cut him off. "She'll tell us herself when and if she wants us to know, otherwise we keep this to ourselves." Aegis wanted to say more but eventually nodded his head in understanding. "Now, what was that thing about a prank earlier?" asked Wayne. Aegis perked up at that, "Well let's just say team CRDL is gonna have to air out their room for a couple days." Wayne rolled his eyes as he recalled a similar prank Aegis had pulled in Signal Academy. "The first week is just ending and you've already stink-bombed someone's room," Wayne stated. Aegis just smiled as they both broke into laughter.

Miss Goodwitch's Class: The Next Day

"He's not half bad," Ruby said suddenly as she, Wayne, and the rest of the class watched the latest match in the sparring ring. "He's rough around the edges and lacks a little technique," replied Wayne, "But Aegis is pretty tough when it comes right down to it." Aegis was fighting Yang today, and so far the two had been trading blows fairly evenly, except Aegis had yet to pull out his weapon, while Yang's Ember Celica gauntlets were expanded and unloading round after round at Aegis, hitting mostly empty air as Aegis redirected or blocked most of Yang's attacks.

Wayne knew his brother's fighting style well, and knew that Aegis couldn't block forever, but he was also confident that his brother could still win the match regardless. In the sparring ring, Yang unloaded another flurry of blows, trying her best to keep Aegis on the defensive as she had quickly realized early in the match that even her full strength couldn't over power Aegis. Aegis blocked the latest combination of punches and spun around to her right side, attempting to catch her with a backhand blow. But, Yang was ready this time as she quickly ducked and kicked his right leg, causing him to almost stumble. Seizing her moment, Yang punched upwards, forcing Aegis's arms upward as Yang delivered a quick left jab, unloading a shell into his midsection. Aegis was pushed back several feet by the force, but managed to remain standing, just barely.

"Alright," Aegis said, "That hurt." Reaching behind him, Aegis finally pulled out his weapon Ursus's Cleaver, a smirk crossing his face. "Oh finally," said Yang, "I was getting bored of making you a punching bag." Yang racked her gauntlets while Aegis spun the cylinder in his weapon. "My turn," Aegis said as he leaped at Yang with a vicious vertical strike. Yang brought her arms up to defend herself, only to be knocked off her feet as something solid connected with her right side two feet before the pole-like weapon even touched her. Aegis assaulted her with a series of blows, all connecting earlier than they should as Yang was knocked back several feet, finally hitting the ground with Aegis's last blow.

"What's going on," asked Ruby as she watched her sister get knocked to the ground by a seemingly invisible force. "Oh that's Aegis's semblance combined with his weapon Ursus's Cleaver," replied Wayne. "It's kind of hard to see in this light but if you look closely," Wayne tried pointing out the weapon's shape to Ruby, "You'll see a glass ax blade formed right before Aegis's first attack and it's been there ever since."

"Wow," exclaimed Ruby, as she stared almost transfixed at the weapon Aegis was using. "You mean that brute actually created a weapon which did more than simply smash stuff," Said Weiss, speaking for the first time since the class had started. "Oh he smashes plenty with it," replied Wayne, "But even Aegis realizes the need for a few surprises every now and then, keep watching and you just might see another one." Wayne had kept his eyes on the match the whole time, watching as Yang had finally figured out the lengths of Aegis's glass ax blade as she had been dodging more effectively.

Wayne could tell Aegis was having fun, but he was also running out of patience. In spite of his continued attacks, Yang had managed to stay in the fight and even managed a few counter attacks, which Aegis had blocked with his own weapon. "Alright," Aegis said as he activated the cylinder on his weapon, "Try this." Ursus's Cleaver's glass blade suddenly turned to fire as Aegis swung horizontally, causing an explosion which sent Yang flying backward. Keeping the offensive, Aegis rotated the cylinder in his weapon again and used a downward slash, sending a wave of white energy from his blade.

Yang barely had enough time to roll out of the way as Aegis spun the cylinder one more time. Taking the opening, Yang charged at Aegis with a ferocious right hook as Aegis swung upward with his weapon, its blade having become stone. Yang was fast, but Aegis's weapon had more reach, allowing his attack to strike first, shattering the stone blade as it sent Yang flying into the air. Aegis leaped into the air and brought down one more attack with his glass-bladed weapon, sending his opponent crashing to the floor, causing a small crater to form. The lights flipped on as Yang's aura meter reached the red.

"And that's the match," said Glynda Goodwitch, "The winner is Aegis Ursario." Aegis was breathing somewhat hard as he made his way over to Yang, offering his hand. "That was a heck of a match," said Aegis smiling. "You still hit pretty hard for this just being a sparring match," replied Yang as Aegis helped her off the floor. "I'm sure Wayne told you already," said Aegis, "I've never been one for holding back." "So I've noticed," replied Yang as she held her side.

"If it makes you feel any better," Aegis said, "My chest still feels like an angry donkey just kicked me." "It might, if I didn't feel like a bus just hit me," Replied Yang, happily as they both sat back down next to Wayne and Ruby. "Nice work out there," Wayne whispered to Aegis. "Oh you know," replied Aegis as the next match started, "I do love fighting." They both watched as the next match started, Jaune Arc vs Cardin Winchester.

"Do you think he'll put up a fight this time?" Aegis asked as they watched the match. Aegis quickly got his answer as Jaune was knocked back again and again. "Guess not," replied Wayne as he watched the match, wincing inwardly as team JNPR's leader continued taking a beating from his opponent. Pretty soon, Jaune was on the ground and would've been smashed by Cardin's mace if Ms. Goodwitch hadn't called the match. "You'd think he would've improved a little more by now," said Aegis, who was quickly nudged by Yang. Wayne didn't like to admit it, but it was obvious skill was not what got Jaune the spot as team leader.

Beacon Cafeteria: A Short Time Later

"So there we were," said Nora as she began another one of her exaggerated stories, which was corrected multiple times by Ren as she spoke. Wayne half-listened as he ate his food, other things on his mind than one of his friend's recurring dreams. Jaune had a look of defeat on his face, even though he assured everyone that he was fine.

"He's been picking on you since the first week of school," Pyrrha said to Jaune. "Oh come on," replied Jaune, "When has he actually bullied me?" "Well he did jam your shield in the door," said Ruby.

"He's knocked your scroll out of your hands a lot," Yang said. "He shoved you into one of the specialized lockers and ejected you out of the school," Said Pyrrha. "I didn't fly that far," said Jaune, trying to act cheerful, "Besides I'm not the only he's a jerk too." Wayne was about to respond when Aegis suddenly got up from the table.

"Just remembered something," Aegis said, a serious look in his eye that Wayne knew all too well. "I'm getting more food," Wayne said as he hastily got up after his brother, tracing his line of sight to see what had set him off. He got his answer when he saw the brown-haired leader, Cardin, with the rest of team CRDL crowded around a faunus girl with chestnut brown hair which matched the fur on the large rabbit ears protruding from her head.

"Hold up Aegis," Wayne said, grabbing Aegis's shoulder. "You're not stopping me this time," said Aegis impatiently. "That wasn't the plan," Wayne whispered quickly, "I just got a better idea, one you'll love," Wayne pointed to the large double doors at the entrance to the cafeteria, "Wait out there, you'll know the signal when you smell it." Aegis hesitated, then nodded in understanding as he quickly headed out of the cafeteria. Well I was gonna give this to Aegis a little later, thought Wayne as he made his way over to where team CRDL was picking on the rabbit faunus, but I think he'll like this better.

Wayne walked up behind Cardin, as the bully began pulling on the faunus's ears. "That hurts," said the rabbit faunus in a somewhat heavy British accent. "See told you they were real," said Cardin, "What a freak." Wayne was irritated by this point and smacked the bully on the back of his head, who in his surprise, released the rabbit faunus's ear.

"Hey what the-," asked a surprised Cardin. "How's it going guys," Wayne said over Cardin's surprised statement, "I hope we're all enjoying the lunch hour over here, and who might this be?" Wayne turned to the rabbit faunus, "I gotta say we have several faunus where I'm from but I have not often seen rabbit faunus living in the area." "Hey what's your problem," said Cardin as the rest of team CRDL stood up.

"I'm sorry are you talking to me?" Asked Wayne as he turned back to Cardin. "Yeah I'm talking to you," replied Cardin, "because it seems you have a problem right now." "You know you're right," said Wayne, "I do have a problem, it's these four jabbering birds that are interrupting my conversation with the beautiful young lady over here, so if you don't mind," Wayne turned back to the rabbit faunus, "So anyway I've noticed you seem to be in a bad spot over here and-," Wayne was cut off as Cardin grabbed his coat and pulled him over to face him.

"You got a lot of nerve pal," said Cardin, "But me and the boys here can fix that." Wayne grabbed Cardin's wrist and dug his thumb into one of Cardin's pressure points, forcing him to let go. "I really didn't want to do this," Wayne began as he released Cardin's wrist, "Oh who am I kidding, I planned on this." Wayne turned around and started banging his foot on the seat of one of the tables, sending multiple echoes through the cafeteria and drawing everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please!" Wayne announced as he withdrew a jar from his coat he'd been saving for Aegis, "I'd like to apologize in advance for the following." Loosening the lid on the jar, Wayne tossed it to Cardin. "Honey bomb," Wayne said. "Hey what the-," Cardin was interrupted by a loud crash as the cafeteria doors flew open with Aegis standing in the doorway, a crazed look in his eyes.

"HONEY!" Aegis yelled as he charged the unfortunate members of team CRDL, bashing through everything in his way. "This way," Wayne said, steering the rabbit faunus out of harm's way only seconds before the crazed half-bear faunus crashed into team CRDL, yelling over and over about honey. "Don't make too big of a mess now," Wayne said over his shoulder as he led the rabbit faunus away. "HONEY!" Aegis yelled again.

"I'm Wayne by the way, what's your name?" he asked as he lightly guided the rabbit faunus by her arm over to where he and teams RWBY and JNPR were sitting. "Velvet," she replied shyly, "Velvet Scarlatina." "Well Velvet," Wayne said, "I think I've got a better spot for you to sit today if that's okay." Velvet seemed unsure, but let Wayne lead her the rest of the way over to where he had been sitting with his other friends.

"Everyone," Wayne said over the sound of his brother beating down team CRDL for honey, "This is Velvet Scarlatina." "Hello," she said shyly. "And Velvet," Wayne said as he indicated everyone at the table, "This collection of misfits are teams RWBY and JNPR, who I hope you'll find are a lot more friendly than that band of bird brains back there."

At that moment, one of the members of team CRDL went sailing over their table, screaming at the top of his lungs as he crashed two tables over from where they sat. "I think that was a new record Aegis," Wayne yelled to his brother as he found a seat for Velvet next to Blake. "Are you sure about this," asked Velvet, rather quietly, "I don't want to be a bother." "It's fine," said Blake, having put her book down to assure the frightened rabbit faunus. Wayne sat down across from her as the rest of his friends introduced themselves to Velvet.

"It's nice to meet all of you," she said, "And thank you for having me." "No problem," said Ruby happily, "It's never fun to see someone getting bullied." "If you don't mind my asking," Said Velvet, "What exactly happened back there just now?"

"That," said Wayne, "Was the power of my brother, Aegis's, legendary honey craving." Velvet cocked her head to the side in slight confusion. "No seriously, the moment he catches the scent of honey, especially the type from home, he goes nuts, even Mom and Dad have trouble restraining him when he gets like this," said Wayne. "Do you do that a lot," asked Yang, "With the honey and everything?"

"The honey bomb trick, Aegis's name for it, not mine," answered Wayne, "Was a little something we developed back in Signal and Sanctum, turns out the teachers there were a little less harsh when it came to a crazed-half bear faunus's craving for honey than just outright fighting." "So that was you guys who tore up the cafeteria a couple of times back at Sanctum?" asked Pyrrha.

"Yep," Replied Wayne. "So what," said Weiss, "You two fight bullies with jars of honey as your excuse?" "Well I guess I had better come clean on a few other things," said Wayne, "Me and Aegis came up with all kinds of pranks and silly tricks to get back at the bullies in every academy we've ever been in," Wayne paused to take a sip of his apple juice, "It wasn't that we couldn't take 'em, we just found that we got in less trouble if we were a little more discreet about it, hence the numerous incidents team CRDL's been experiencing this semester."

"So when they all fell down the stairs that one time," Yang asked. "Tripped 'em with my hidden wire," Replied Wayne. "That stink bomb in their room," Nora said. "Aegis dropped that in through the roof," answered Wayne. "And the time their weapon lockers launched all over campus," asked Ruby.

"We figured out which lockers were theirs and just hit random combinations, didn't plan on one landing in the roof of Ms. Goodwitch's office, but the result was great," Said Wayne with a slight grin. "I never took you for the pranking type," said Pyrrha. "Well it's not my preferred method," said Wayne, "But it's been the best method for keeping us out of trouble while still getting a few shots in here and there."

Everyone obviously had more questions, but Aegis had finally finished his jar of honey and had made his way back over to the table, plopping down beside Wayne as he finished cleaning the honey off his mouth. "So when were you gonna tell me you had that jar of honey?" asked Aegis. "Well I was gonna wait 'til dinner," replied Wayne, "But you know what, I think this turned out better, oh and by the way this is Velvet Scarlatina." "Hello," she said sheepishly. "Welcome to the table," said Aegis, obviously in a good mood now, "I hope you enjoyed the show."

 **That brings us to the end of another chapter. As always, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, and if you want a little more action, don't worry, 'cause next chapter team WA has their first meeting, and sparring session, with team CFVY. Once again, if there's anything I can do to help the story read better, just let me know. Bye for now.**


	6. Just a 'Friendly' Sparring Match

**Just a 'Friendly' Sparring Match**

This is probably not good, thought Wayne as he walked into Glynda Goodwitch's office, passing Aegis on the way. "Ah, Mr. Ursario," said Ms. Goodwitch, "Please take a seat." Wayne did as instructed, taking the seat which had been set out in front of her desk.

"It has come to my attention that you and your brother caused a bit of commotion in the cafeteria earlier today," said Goodwitch. Yep, thought Wayne, it was about that. Wayne and Aegis had been called to Ms. Goodwitch's office shortly after classes had ended, having managed to leave the scene at the cafeteria just as the assistant headmaster had arrived.

"It was more like an isolated incident if you ask me," said Wayne. "I don't believe calling attention to yourself, then having your brother attack four people in a crowded cafeteria is a terribly isolated incident," Replied Goodwitch. "Well besides the CRDL guys, did anyone else actually get hurt?" asked Wayne.

"Fortunately for you no," replied Goodwitch, "But a situation like that should not have escalated like it did." "While I will admit it may have been a little over the top, but what else were we supposed to do?" Questioned Wayne.

"Well most people would report the problem to their respective teachers or headmasters," Goodwitch replied. "Well the problem with that," replied Wayne, "Was that Aegis would've gotten to them first one way or the other." "I am aware of your brother's hatred of anyone he considers a bully," stated Goodwitch, "just as I am aware of the fact that you have a similar hatred." Goodwitch pushed her glasses higher on the bridge of her nose, "And while I agree that there are no places in this academy for bullies, we do not encourage violence for solving problems between the students."

"Oh it wasn't that violent," said Wayne, "those guys got off with a couple of bruises at best." "Yes, while two tables were shattered, several more knocked around the cafeteria, and much of the back wall and floor were cracked in the process," Said Goodwitch. "Well Aegis is like that when he wants honey, overly destructive," Said Wayne, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yes he explained it to me," Replied Goodwitch, "And of course several witnesses say you were the one who pulled out the jar of honey." "Well once again what was I supposed to do," said Wayne, "They were picking on a girl and if I hadn't stepped in Aegis would've gone after them twice as hard, heck they should almost be thanking me."

"They were teasing her," said Goodwitch, "They wouldn't have done anything to seriously harm her in the middle of a crowded cafeteria." "I know that much," said Wayne, "But Velvet is a pretty shy girl, the type to stay quiet about things like bullying, and Aegis probably explained to you what he was originally planning." "And that is exactly why you should have reported it to me," said Goodwitch sternly, "We would've collected witnesses and if we had found they had been bullying someone, we would have selected a more appropriate punishment for all of them."

"Well what have you done with them for the moment?" asked Wayne. "They are currently serving time in detention with Professor Port," said Goodwitch. "Yeah that'll fix 'em," Said Wayne, somewhat sarcastically. "We would've selected a harsher punishment had they not already been assaulted by a crazed half-bear faunus," stated Goodwitch.

"Well there you go, we did half your job already," Said Wayne. Goodwitch tipped her glasses again before speaking. "Mr. Ursario," said Goodwitch "while I will admit that team CRDL likely had it coming to them, you must remember that this is a school, meaning you will use your fighting skills only when absolutely necessary or when instructed to do so by a teacher, so from now on, try to keep both of your tempers in check." Wayne wanted to argue further but knew it would likely be pointless, so he instead nodded in understanding.

"That is all for now Mr. Ursario, but if I see you in here for something like this again, you will be punished," said Goodwitch. Wayne nodded again in understanding as he stood up and headed for the door. "One more thing before you go," said Ms. Goodwitch, as Wayne stopped at the door, "The sparring ring is a good place to work out issues, it can take a little more punishment than the rest of the school." "I'll remember that," said Wayne as he exited the office.

Well wasn't that something else, thought Wayne with a sigh of relief as he made his way down the hall, that woman really is scary. Aegis was likely already back at the dorm room or wandering the school, Wayne knew he'd skip the sparring room today after beating down an entire team on a crazed pursuit of honey. As he continued walking down the hall he caught the sound of several footsteps behind him, which were soon accompanied by several unfamiliar smells.

At least I know that's not Cardin and the rest of his team, he thought as he slowed his pace, taking another whiff of the air. Curiosity soon got the better of him as Wayne decided to stop and step to the left side of the hallway, turning to face the source of the footsteps. A large Asian looking student who stood a few heads above Wayne wearing green armor with a large orange sword on his back stopped a few feet in front of Wayne. Another figure with spiky, orange hair and dark skin walked out from behind the large swordsman, this one being closer to Wayne's size with a sleeveless orange shirt and black pants and boots, with a pair of orange blades attached to his arms.

"You should know I just got out of the office with Ms. Goodwitch," Wayne began, "So If you're looking for trouble-," "Oh don't be so dramatic," said a female voice from behind the large swordsman. In another moment, a girl walked out from behind the swordsman, carrying herself with an incredible amount of confidence. She wore a brown turtle neck, black pants, and black heels with a decorative belt designed to look like an ammunition belt. A beret hat and sunglasses completed her wardrobe as she stopped only a few feet from Wayne, the other two keeping their distance further back.

"You're Wayne Ursario right," asked the girl. "Last I checked yeah, why?" asked Wayne. "You sounded a lot more humorous the way Velvet described you," She said. "You mean Velvet Scarlatina," Wayne asked. "Of course," she replied, "I don't think she mentioned us, I'm Coco," she said extending a hand, "Leader of team CFVY (Coffee)." Wayne shook her hand which, to his surprise, had a surprisingly strong grip.

"Well it's nice to meet you I guess," Said Wayne, "and the stiffs back there are?" "Yatsuhashi and Fox," said Coco, indicating first the swordsman then the orange-haired fighter, "We've just been looking for you to say thanks." "For what," asked Wayne?

"For helping Velvet at the cafeteria earlier," Coco replied, "Not everyone likes to help a faunus, especially against a whole group of bullies." "Well it was my brother who did all the heavy-lifting," Wayne said, "I just tossed the honey and let nature take its course." "Either way," said Coco, "Velvet won't likely say it but she's grateful for the help."

"Well me and my brother do what we can," said Wayne. "Well if you ever need a couple extra sparring partners," Coco said as she began to walk past Wayne, suddenly hitting him in the rear, causing Wayne to jump a little, "Feel free to look us up." "She always like that," asked Wayne as the other two members of team CFVY walked by, both nodding. Well that was interesting, he thought, but did I just make some new friends.

Not knowing where to find Aegis, Wayne simply headed back to the dorm first, planning to call his brother when he got there. His brother, however, was already in the room when he got back. Well that saves me some time, he thought as he entered the dorm room, closing the door behind him.

"About time you got back," said Aegis, who was sitting on his bed examining his weapon. "I got held up a little," said Wayne as he removed his coat and hung it on one of the coat hangers in their closet. "By the way," he said, "You didn't happen to run into a couple of guys and a girl with a beatnik hat on the way out of the office did you?"

"You mean team CFVY," replied Aegis, looking up from his weapon. "Yeah," said Wayne. "I ran into them on the way out of Goodwitch's office, they seemed alright, the guys seemed a little stiff," said Aegis. "Good then it wasn't just me," said Wayne, "You have any idea when they practice?" "You looking to spar," said Aegis as he sat his weapon down next to his bed, its examination finished for now. "I see no reason we can't take them up on their offer," replied Wayne, "and besides, you and I both love facing new sparring partners." "Oh what the heck," said Aegis with a grin, "The more the merrier."

School Cafeteria: The Next Day

It took some time, but eventually Wayne was able to track down Velvet, spotting her before she entered the cafeteria. "Hey wait up Velvet," Wayne said, catching her by surprise. "Oh Wayne," said Velvet, recovering from her shock, "You scared me a little."

"Sorry old habit," said Wayne, "I used to sneak up on people a lot in Signal and Sanctum academy, the reactions I got were usually priceless." "From what I hear you still do that a bit," replied Velvet, still fairly shy. "Mostly with Ruby or Jaune and occasionally Weiss, their reactions are usually the best, although Weiss could be a better sport about it," Said Wayne as they walked into the cafeteria, heading for the food line.

"By the way," asked Velvet sheepishly, "do you always carry a jar of honey with you?" "Nah, only when Mom or Dad send 'em our way," said Wayne "that homemade honey drives Aegis especially crazy." They walked in silence for a moment as they entered the line for food. "By the way," Wayne said, "When does your team have the training room?"

"Oh, well we usually prefer the evening," said Velvet, "Often right after class." "Well how does the idea of team WA dropping in for a bit sound to you?" Asked Wayne. "Oh, I guess you talked to Coco then didn't you," Said Velvet.

"We exchanged greetings, we talked, she slapped my a## on the way out," Said Wayne, matter of factly. "Oh," said Velvet, turning slightly red, "That's just something she does, I'm sorry if she-," "Don't worry about it," said Wayne, holding a hand up to silence her, "Believe me when I say a lot weirder things have happened to me and Aegis." Velvet nodded in understanding, but was obviously still a little embarrassed.

"Anyway what do you think?" asked Wayne as they grabbed their food and headed towards the tables, "Do you guys think you could squeeze in a sparring session or two with me and Aegis." "Well if Coco says yes, then you can bring your entire team," Replied Velvet. "Sounds good, just let me or Aegis know as soon as you can," Said Wayne as they headed for their tables. Wayne was about to sit down when he noticed Velvet had kept on walking. As he turned to call out to her, a high pitched, energetic voice suddenly rang in his ear.

"Hey where are you going," shouted Nora as she waved at Velvet, "You aren't sitting by yourself again are you." "Well I didn't want to intrude or-," But Velvet was quickly cut off as Nora leaped over the table and dragged Velvet back over to the where the rest of teams RWBY, JNPR, and WA were sitting. "We can't let you just sit by yourself after yesterday," said Nora, "I mean we only met for a single lunch period, not even a whole period really, it was more like half a period which is even less time." Nora continued to drone on and on, even after seating Velvet next to Blake.

"Are you sure I should be here," asked Velvet, "I'm not sure everyone here approves of a faunus girl like me." "You're fine Velvet," said Blake looking up from her book, "Everyone here is pretty friendly, and if you recall, Wayne and Aegis are both half-bear faunus."

"And believe me," said Aegis, sitting down next to Wayne, "If they can put up with us they'll definitely have no problem with a cute little bunny-girl like you." Velvet eventually nodded as the rest of the table slowly filled with the remaining members of teams RWBY and JNPR. "Oh by the way," asked Aegis, "You got a time and a place for our friendly little beat down session." "Well," Wayne replied, "It seems beat down time is at its best right after class in the training room."

Beacon Training Area: End of the Day

"You're serious," said Coco as she sized up Wayne and Aegis, "Your whole team is just you two, not even a temporary third member?" "Nope just us," said Aegis, "In fact Ozpin never even announced which one of us was the leader of this little duo." "That must've been some bad luck on your part," Said Coco.

"It's had ups and downs," said Wayne, "But so far it hasn't proven to be an actual problem." "Oh we'll see about that," said Coco, a mischievous grin on her face, "You're up Fox." The orange-haired fighter nodded and stepped over to the sparring ring. "Now who's first," Coco asked. Wayne and Aegis nodded to each other, throwing their right hands into the air and bringing them down in front of each other three times before stopping.

"Ah man," said Aegis, holding out two fingers. "Rock beats scissors Aegis," said Wayne, withdrawing his closed fist, "You can have the next one." Wayne stepped into the ring with Fox, donning his helmet and drawing his weapons. Wayne had looked into it and new that team CFVY was about a second year team, or at least they'd been at Beacon longer, meaning they were probably pretty tough. The two sparring partners slowly circled each other as they assumed their fighting stances.

After about a minute of circling, Wayne decided to attack first, firing both Crescent Fangs at Fox. The orange fighter leaped, flipped and spun out of the way, quickly closing the gap between him and Wayne. Wayne barely had time to switch his weapons to sickle form to block Fox's first arm swipe. Wayne was forced back several feet as his opponent slashed at him continuously with his arm blades.

He's fast, Wayne thought as he struggled to block the flurry of incoming strikes. Fox suddenly slammed both hands into Wayne's weapons, creating a shockwave which sent him flying back several feet. Wayne fell back and rolled on the ground, regaining his footing as quickly as he could. Fox charged again, but Wayne was ready this time as he leaped right over Fox, shifting his left weapon into gun form and raining a spray of dust energy bullets down on his opponent. Again, Fox managed to dodge or deflect the incoming barrage.

Wayne, still firing at Fox, quickly connected his right weapon to the wire hidden in his sleeve. As Fox closed the gap again, Wayne tossed his weapon, yanking on the wire just before it passed Fox's head. The sickle suddenly curved to the left as Fox narrowly avoided the blade, not having noticed the wire attached to the bottom of the handle. This time, Wayne closed the gap as he swung the weapon around again for a right horizontal strike.

Fox batted the blade away with his arm blade and back into Wayne's hand as the wire retracted. Wayne attacked Fox with several slashes as the two went back and forth between slashing and blocking. Eventually they clashed weapons, trying to overpower each other by strength as they pushed against each other's blades. This is going nowhere, thought Wayne. Fox must've realized the same thing, as he suddenly raised his right leg and attempted to round house kick Wayne in the ribs. Wayne was just able to get his left leg up to block in time as they finally broke contact with their weapons.

I guess I have no choice, thought Wayne as he started concentrating and gathering energy to his weapons. He didn't have long to charge, however, as Fox rushed at him with the same two-handed strike which had knocked him off his feet the first time. Wayne swung his energized blades against the attack, the impact releasing blue energy as both fighters were knocked backwards, their feet grinding against the floor as they struggled to remain standing. Eventually they both stopped sliding after several feet. Wayne's breathing had quickened again, using his semblance had drained him a little.

Looking across the ring at his opponent, Wayne noticed Fox was also breathing a lot harder. He must've been putting more force into those attacks than I thought, wandered Wayne as he thought of what to do next. Connecting his left sleeve wire to his weapon, Wayne decided he'd try a longer ranged approach. Wayne tossed his left sickle at Fox, who dodged the attack as Wayne quickly reeled it back in and sent his right sickle in a similar fashion. Fox danced around the wire guided blades as he advanced again, hopping, leaping, and/or deflecting the repeated oncoming attacks. Wayne waited for him to close the gap as he ran his semblance into his weapon again, cutting a large gash in the floor once or twice as he spun the weapons in various attack combinations. Eventually Fox closed the gap as he and Wayne exchanged blows again, with Wayne using several spinning maneuvers and more advanced foot work this time around.

He's slowed down, Wayne thought as they continued to clash their weapons, not by much but it's definitely noticeable. Wayne occasionally kicked at Fox's feet, trying to break his root, but also more importantly, to move him into position. Come on, thought Wayne, just a little more. Finally, the opportunity he'd been waiting for presented itself. Clashing their weapons together again, Wayne let Fox overpower him a little this time, turning to the side as Fox stumbled forward slightly. Wayne took the moment to slash upward, a small amount of his semblance running through the blade. Fox fell backwards as he tripped on the rubble upturned when Wayne had slashed the floor earlier. Pressing his advantage, Wayne channeled as much of his semblance into his blades as he could, given the short time, and unleashed a series of energy slashes at his opponent.

The attacks impacted, first knocking Fox's weapons out of the way, then forcing him back as Wayne unleashed all of his gathered semblance at his opponent's chest. The orange-haired fighter flew several feet before landing back first onto the ground. Wayne began charging his semblance again, this time planning to unleash an energized blast. Unfortunately, his opponent recovered faster than he thought he would and leaped back up and charged Wayne with his two-handed strike. Wayne barely had enough time to bring his weapons into a blocking position, causing him to lose control of some of the energy. As the two clashed, energy shot out of Wayne's sickles in all directions as the force of the blast sent them both flying backwards as a small crater formed where they had just been standing only moments before.

Wayne landed hard on his back, gritting his teeth against the pain as his vision swirled for a moment. Wayne struggled to right himself as he pushed himself off the ground with his hands. His opponent, Fox, was in a similar situation, except he was on all fours. Both fighters were breathing heavily as they struggled to get up. Wayne shifted his right weapon to gun form and pointed it at Fox, who was now on both knees as Wayne was in a half-kneeling position. Before he could pull the trigger, a pair of delicate looking hands grabbed onto his weapon and pushed it downward.

"Please, I think you've more than made your point," Said Velvet, with one hand on Crescent Fang and the other hand on Wayne's arm. Looking across the sparring ring, Wayne saw Coco helping Fox back to his feet. "Sorry about that," said Wayne as he allowed Velvet to help him to his feet, "I got a little carried away."

Wayne looked at Coco as he slowly made his way across the ring, "wasn't trying' to prove any sort of point though." "Yeah but you wrecked the floor again," Said Aegis, passing Wayne as he stepped onto the sparring ring. "Do you do that sort of thing often?" asked Velvet.

"Only when my opponents are strong," replied Wayne as he stowed his weapons and removed his helmet, "it doesn't help that I still have a little difficulty with my semblance either?" "Yeah Aegis warned us about that," said Coco as she and Fox came over to stand next to them, Fox still holding his side.

"You gonna make it tough guy," said Wayne in a half-sincere voice. "He'll be fine," said Coco, "You probably injured his pride though." "How, he nearly kicked my ## more than once," Said Wayne. "Yeah, but you also put up that kind of fight against a second year, Fox won't say it but I'm a little impressed," commented Coco. Wayne mustered a small smile as he turned his attention back to the ring where Aegis and Yatsuhashi had taken up fighting positions, with Aegis drawing Ursus's Cleaver while Yatsuhashi drew his large orange sword. "Show a little self-control if you can Aegis," said Wayne. "No promises," replied Aegis.

The two fighters began circling each other in a similar fashion to how Wayne and Fox's fight had started, only this time Aegis jumped into the fray almost immediately, materializing his ax blade as he attacked in a powerful horizontal strike. Yatsuhashi turned out to be fairly observant as he brought his sword down, blocking the strike and even managing to stop Aegis's charge. The large swordsman then pushed back against Aegis who, surprised by Yatsuhashi's strength, stumbled backwards slightly as his opponent raised his sword over his head.

Aegis regained his footing just in time to raise his weapon over his head to block the strike. The floor beneath Aegis's feet cracked as chunks of rubble went flying up and away from the ground. Oh no, thought Wayne as he saw the look in Aegis's eyes, there goes his self-control. Suddenly smirking, Aegis pushed the sword back up and away from him as he swung another horizontal strike at Yatsuhashi. The swordsman blocked the next several blows as Aegis swung at him from every angle.

"That's what I'm talking about," exclaimed Aegis, his grin growing wider as he paused for a moment between his strikes. Yatsuhashi used Aegis's moment of hesitation to attack with another vicious vertical strike. Aegis dodged out of the way and swung his glass-bladed ax, which was once again blocked by the large orange sword. "Wow," said Velvet, "I knew he was strong, but the fact that he can parry Yatsuhashi's strikes like that."

"Aegis has almost always been physically strong," said Wayne as he watched the two combatants continue to trade blows, each strike increasing in strength and furiousity, "He gets it from being half-bear faunus, he's even stronger than I am." "Wait," Said Coco, obviously confused, "You're his brother, so you're half-bear faunus too right?"

"Yeah I am, got the doctor's record and everything," replied Wayne, "But only a few of the faunus traits carried over to me, as opposed to Aegis who seemed to inherit nearly the whole faunus side, to this day the doctors are still amazed at how it turned out." "That must make for some interesting conversations," said Velvet. "You have no idea," replied Wayne.

Back on the sparring ring, Aegis and Yatsuhashi were trading incredibly ferocious blows, the sound of their weapons clashing filled the sparring room and the floor beneath them cracked, caved, or was torn by every missed attack. Aegis had stopped holding back a while ago, heck, he wondered why he'd even held back in the first place considering the strength of his opponent. Both opponents had tried to overpower the other by sheer strength, but so far, and much to Aegis's excitement and annoyance, they appeared to be evenly matched in strength.

Now Aegis was circling Yatsuhashi, striking at every opportunity he got as the swordsman blocked and parried each blow. Great, thought Aegis, I might have to use some actual strategy against this guy, instead of just strength and skill. As his opponent attacked with another downward strike, Aegis spun out of the way and used the momentum to carry him into a horizontal slash at his opponent's legs. But the large swordsman was a little quicker than he looked as he moved out of the way and swung a horizontal strike at Aegis, who ducked underneath the blade and charged with a vertical strike which was once again deflected by the swordsman. Aegis backed away as he avoided another counter attack. This is fun, he thought, but it's also going nowhere fast. Aegis smiled again as he spun the cylinder on the handle.

"Here we go," Aegis exclaimed as he charged once again. This time a large burst of flames appeared as their blades collided, forcing a surprised Yatsuhashi back. Quickly spinning the cylinder again, Aegis's ax blade turned to hardened stone as he bashed it against his opponent's weapon, causing a shockwave and further knocking him off balance. Aegis swung again, this time with an ice blade which broke against Yatsuhashi's blade, showering him with debris and nearly forcing the sword out of his hand. With one final spin, Aegis charged with his white, energized blade, striking his imbalanced opponent in the chest, knocking him several feet away onto his back. Aegis leaped to his downed opponent's side, his ax blade hovering only a foot from his neck. "You give up," Aegis said between exhausted breaths. Yatsuhashi looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled as he conceded, but also promised next time wouldn't be so easy.

"That was the best fight I've had in while," said Aegis as he helped the large swordsman off the ground, "Besides Wayne anyway." "Well I don't believe it," said Coco looking over to Wayne, "You never mentioned he had a dust cylinder in his weapon, or a glass semblance for that matter." "I was getting to it," said Wayne, "though I would've mentioned it sooner if you'd asked."

"Well I didn't think your brother was one for creative weaponry," Replied Coco. "He wasn't the most creative no," said Wayne, "But after a little prodding from me, the teachers, and our parents, he actually came up with a weapon packing some pretty good surprises." "The glass blade was still my idea," said Aegis as he and Yatsuhashi joined the others.

"Well I gotta say," Said Coco, "Pretty good for a two person team." "We have our moments," Replied Wayne. "Well don't get cocky," said Coco as she passed Wayne and Aegis, making them both jump when she tapped their hind ends, "We've got a school assignment to take care of today but next time you're dealing with me." "Is she always like that?" asked Aegis.

"You have no idea," said Velvet as she and the rest of team CFVY made their way out of the practice room. "Well that was fun," said Aegis. "I'm glad you had fun," said Wayne as he looked back at the sparring ring floor, "Because you tore up the rest of the floor." "Well at least I actually beat my opponent," said Aegis as they both turned to leave. "Hey I might've won if Velvet hadn't stopped me," said Wayne. "Yeah yeah," said Aegis, rubbing his sore arms, "But either way I'm going back to the dorm and I am going to sleep." "I second that motion," Said Wayne as they headed back to their dorm, exhausted from the day's events. I'm going to be so sore in the morning, Wayne thought.

 **Yet another display of team WA's skill, and occasional lack of self control, and for those of you wondering, this is only the first of several instances with team CFVY. Next chapter, team WA visits the forest of Forever Fall and run into more problems than just collecting sap and exotic herbs. As always, I hope everyone is enjoying the story and if you got anything you think I can improve on, just send me a message.**


	7. An Enthusiastic Walk in the Woods

**An Enthusiastic Walk in the Woods**

Within the Forest of Forever Fall

"For the last time," said Wayne as he, Aegis, and teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL followed Ms. Goodwitch through the forest, "I don't think we're gonna be allowed to bring any poisonous or exotic plants back with us." "Oh come on bro," said Aegis, "That stuff we used to knock out that bunch of bullies at Sanctum academy that one time is said to grow in this forest."

"You and I both know that stuff was made from stalker root, which does grow in this forest, but it's also been used in some deadly poisons before, so I don't think we'll be allowed to just carry it back to the academy with us," Replied Wayne. "Well maybe we could-," "And we are not sneaking any back with us," Said Wayne, cutting off Aegis before he made another wild suggestion. Aegis crossed his arms and scowled for a bit as they continued walking through the forest.

All the first year teams had been tasked with collecting samples of sap from some of the trees within the Forest of Forever Fall, it was one of the first field trips they'd taken outside the school grounds since they'd arrived at Beacon. Wayne wasn't sure what Aegis thought, but he found the forest a beautiful sight, even despite the fact that nearly all the tree leaves and grasses were of a dark red coloration. Eventually Ms. Goodwitch told the groups to spread out in order to search for the samples from the trees.

Wayne was about to follow Aegis when he noticed Jaune was carrying a full box of jars and following team CRDL. That's odd, he thought, he'd knew Jaune had been acting out of character around the bullies the last few days, but between studying, classes, and meeting team CFVY, he hadn't really had time to think much about it. "Hey Aegis you-," Wayne stopped in mid-sentence when he noticed Aegis had wandered off in the opposite direction of the others. Wayne rolled his eyes as he ventured into the deeper part of the brush, pushing aside the occasional tree branch as he followed his little brother's all too familiar scent, which smelled worse than usual today because last night was taco night for Aegis.

At least it makes it easier to follow him, thought Wayne as he pushed back a final set of branches. Wayne soon spotted Aegis kneeling at the base of one of the trees, pulling a few random plants up from the foliage. "Aegis what did I say earlier?" said Wayne, visibly annoyed now.

"Yeah I remember," replied Aegis, turning around to face Wayne, "But this ain't stalker root." Aegis held up some small black flowers with star-shaped petals. "Is that," Wayne started to ask. "The nightshade flower," said Aegis, "The one with special petals that'll mess up your insides."

"How exactly did that work again," asked Wayne as he tried to remember the effects of the flower petals. "You remember, back home everyone called this the 'death fog' flower." Said Aegis. Wayne's memory finally caught up with him, "Oh yeah the one that makes you-," "Fart and/or # # uncontrollably," They both said.

"So what do you think?" asked Aegis. Wayne put his hand to his chin as he thought for a moment, until finally, he relented. "Okay fine," Wayne said, "You can collect some nightshade flower on two conditions, one," Wayne held up his finger to emphasize his point, "You use that only when it'll be hilarious and two," Wayne held out one of the collection jars, "You do not, I repeat, do not eat a single drop of sap from these trees."

Aegis crossed his arms as he spoke, "Oh that is steep bro," Aegis said, "really steep you know I love that stuff, but," Aegis held out his hand and took the jar from Wayne, "For the sake of many hilarious pranks I'll let it go this once."

With that, the brothers began collecting samples from the trees in the area, until both jars were full of red sap. "Well that should be enough," said Aegis as he finished filling his jar, "And I didn't taste a single drop." "Good," said Wayne, "We would've been here all day otherwise and half the trees would've been drained of sap before we got just these two jars full."

"Oh come on, it was one time at home, I drank the entire sap deposit of one tree," Said Aegis. "And if I remember correctly," Said Wayne, "You were running around town yelling and flailing like a drunk for the rest of the day while me, Mom, and Dad had to chase your sorry tail down."

"Yeah that sap was a little stronger than this stuff," Replied Aegis. "Well either way we got some," said Wayne, "Best head back before-," Wayne stopped in mid-sentence as a sudden rustling caught his and Aegis's attention. Sniffing the air, Wayne and Aegis quickly set their jars on the ground and drew their weapons as they realized what the smell belonged too. Out of the bushes, a large Ursa came lumbering out, followed by a second, then a third, and finally a fourth Ursa.

"Ms. Goodwitch wasn't kidding when she said this stuff attracts Grimm," said Aegis. "Yeah just our luck," said Wayne as the Ursas all charged. Aegis immediately spun the cylinder on Ursus's Cleaver, turning the blade into sharpened ice while Wayne, attaching the wires in both his sleeves to his Crescent Fangs, leaped over the nearest Ursa. Wayne swung the blades back, grabbing onto the wires as the sickles left his hands. Wayne flipped forward in the air as he felt the blades dig into the Ursa's neck. Yanking as hard as his momentum would allow, Wayne felt both blades rip through the Ursa's neck as they returned to his hands, reeled in by the wires.

Aegis sliced the head off of the Ursa nearest him, the ice fading from his blade as the Grimm's head flew through the air. Aegis tucked and rolled under a large paw as he dodged around the next Ursa, while Wayne leaped up and jumped off the head of the fourth Ursa. They landed next to each other as the remaining two bear Grimm turned towards them and charged again, swinging their massive paws at them.

Moving in synchronization, the two brothers spun and slashed the charging Ursa's sides, forcing them to stop as they continued spinning and slashing in a series of quick vertical and horizontal slashes. Wayne and Aegis, staying at each other's backs, switched opponents, delivering a final series of finishing slashes. With a final couple of roars, the two defeated Grimm both fell to the ground with a large thud. Quickly surveying the area for any other signs of trouble, Wayne and Aegis were about to put up their weapons when they heard another roar in the distance. "Ah nuts," exclaimed Aegis, "another one." "That one's not after us," said Wayne, "That's the direction CRDL went." The brothers grabbed the jars of sap and ran towards the sound of roaring as quickly as they could.

When they arrived, they were greeted by the sight of Cardin on the ground while Jaune, sword and shield in hand, charged an Ursa that was larger, and spikier, then the ones they had just killed, an Ursa Major. We're not gonna make it, Wayne thought. Suddenly, Jaune's shield raised, blocking the charging Ursa Major's paw, allowing Jaune the opening he needed to slice off the Major's head with his and Aegis stopped in their tracks, watching as the now dead Grimm's head fell to the ground, momentarily speechless.

"Well I'll be," said Aegis, "I guess he has a little fight in him after all." "Yeah," said Wayne, as he suddenly caught sight of Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha standing in the bushes, Pyrrha lowering her hand, "Yeah I guess he does." Wayne and Aegis waited a bit longer, as the three girls retreated back into the bushes, while Jaune helped Cardin off the ground. Wayne didn't catch everything he said, but Jaune was likely telling Cardin to stay away from his friends. With one final word, Jaune walked away, leaving Cardin to stand in the woods alone.

"Come on," said Wayne as he and Aegis slipped through the bushes to join the rest of the group. Everyone was happy to see that Jaune was okay, and unlike how they arrived, team CRDL was staying away from Jaune, who for some reason was hanging back from everyone at the moment. Wayne and Aegis came into step next to him. "Nice kill," said Aegis, startling Jaune out of his thoughts.

"Oh you two saw that," Jaune asked. "Just the last part," replied Wayne, "But you don't seem particularly proud of it at the moment." "Oh I'm happy about it," replied Jaune, "It's just," Jaune struggled to find the words, "I kind of messed up and I don't know what to do about it."

"How'd you mess up, you killed an Ursa Major by chopping its head off," Said Aegis. "No not that, I mean I said some things earlier in the week and now I'm pretty sure my team hates me."

"Your team doesn't hate you Jaune," said Wayne, "But I bet they are wondering why you were hanging around with Cardin and his goons." "Well I kind of messed that up too and he had me on a leash." "And now," asked Aegis. "Well I took care of that problem," replied Jaune, "I think anyway."

"So what're you gonna do about the other problem?" asked Wayne. "I don't know," replied Jaune, "I mean Ren and Nora might forgive me but I don't think Pyrrha's gonna talk to me after my whole 'Do it alone' speech." "You told her what?" asked Aegis. "I told her if I couldn't handle this problem myself that I was no good, and look how that turned out."Jaune sighed and held his head low before he continued speaking, "And now what am I gonna say?"

"Well a good start would probably be you putting any other ego problems you have left aside," Said Wayne, "Because believe it or not, that whole 'do it all alone' thing doesn't actually work very well in real life." "Yeah I'm starting to see that," said Jaune, "I just wanted to handle this the way all those other heroes in the stories handled their problems."

"All those other heroes in the stories," said Aegis, "Actually knew what they were doing." "But more importantly," said Wayne, "Those heroes did not handle 'all' their problems alone, even if it seemed that way from time to time," Wayne held up a finger to emphasize his next point, "Real heroes know how to admit their mistakes, and they know that it's not a bad thing to ask for help."

"I mean look at us," said Aegis, "Me and Wayne have been relying on our family, our friends, and each other our whole lives, and look at us now," Aegis held up his arms in a wide sweeping gesture, "We've made it all the way to Beacon Academy, something neither of us could've done alone, heck I doubt we would've made it out of the initiation if we hadn't been working together." Jaune lifted his head up a little, "So what do you think I should do."

"Tell Pyrrha, and your team, you made a mistake," said Wayne, "And if they're offering to help you with something you know you need help with, don't be afraid to accept their help," Wayne nudged Jaune in the shoulder before he spoke again, "I mean you guys are a team, the whole point is to help each other." Jaune's frown disappeared a little as he spoke, "Okay, I'll give it a try," Said Jaune. "That's more like it," said Aegis, smacking Jaune on the back, nearly knocking him over, "Now go bond with your teammates."

 **Hello again everyone, as you likely noticed this chapter was a bit shorter, why, well this just seemed like a good place to leave off for now. Don't worry though, the next one will be longer if you enjoy a somewhat lengthy chapter, and not only will it have more of team WA's antics, but will also feature Wayne going up against another one of Beacon's first year students. Once more, I hope everyone's enjoying the story. See you next chapter**


	8. Basic Shopping for Huntsman and Huntress

**Basic Shopping for Huntsmen and Huntresses**

"Are you sure it's a good time to be doing this," asked Aegis as his voice was projected out of Wayne's scroll. "I haven't been able to do this in a few days and it's been bugging me," replied Wayne as he sat on one of Beacon academy's many roofs and flipped the latches on a black, medium-sized rectangular case he'd brought with him. "Yeah I know you like your hobbies," said Aegis, "I mean I still manage to get to a lot of my hobbies, even here."

"You do know that part of the reason for that is because you occasionally slack off on school work so you can keep up with your hobbies," Wayne said as he opened the case, examining the object inside. "Yeah don't remind me," Said Aegis, "It's just that my musical hobby is a little quieter, and probably more popular than yours." "Hey don't mock the trumpet," Wayne said as he pulled the brass instrument out of the case, along with a small bottle of valve oil and a plunger mute. "I'm sure there are almost as many trumpet players as there are guitar players."

"I'm just saying," said Aegis, "Your instrument is more likely to be loud and annoying than mine." "You hook up your guitar to an amp half the time at home," said Wayne, "Some days I'd think your trying to blow the windows out."

"Oh come on," said Aegis, "a little distortion never hurt anyone." "A little distortion doesn't threaten to blow out both my ear drums," said Wayne, "Now if you don't mind, I just finished oiling the valves on this old thing." "Just don't wake the whole school," Aegis remarked before hanging up. Wayne took one last inspection of the golden-brass instrument, making sure all the valves moved correctly before he shoved the mute into the trumpet's bell.

It was a rather nice moonlit night, which was why he had decided to play on the roof tonight instead of in the dorm room. With a deep breath, Wayne brought the mouth piece to his lips and began buzzing. The trumpet sounded with at best half of its volume thanks to the mute, but the sound was unmistakable as it filled the night air. Wayne ran through a few basic scales first, playing them more by muscle memory than anything. Once the scales were done, Wayne played a song from back home, a slow simple piece, almost like a waltz as the sound seemed to sway back and forth from high note to low note as he slurred from one part of the song to the other.

Soon he picked up the pace, carrying his little performance into another piece he'd learned awhile back as it filled the night air with shorter, choppy notes that gave the tune a more parade-like feel to it. Wayne breathed when he had to during each piece, pausing whenever he hit a rest in the music, or just to add to the effect of the music. Pausing for one large breath, Wayne launched into one final piece, a jazzy tune he'd learned for one of the festivals back home, and still enjoyed playing even now.

Wayne played every note to the best of his ability while trying to keep up the tempo as he leaped from high note to low note as the song rang out through the night. With one final breath, Wayne played and held the last note as long as he could before running out of air. Removing the trumpet from his mouth, Wayne breathed in a few times as he checked the time. He'd only been playing for about ten minutes, but his lips felt like he'd been playing an hour.

I am definitely not a world class player, Wayne thought as he examined the trumpet in his hands, but at least I can play a couple of things. Wayne smiled at the instrument one last time before removing the mute and mouth piece from the trumpet and setting the contents back into the case. "I should play outside more often," Wayne thought out loud before picking up his trumpet in its case and heading for the exit off the roof.

The Next Day: Combat Class

Wayne reeled back, narrowly avoiding a kick to his face as he backed away from his opponent. A fine way to end a Friday morning, Wayne thought as his opponent shifted her sword to its rifle form and opened fire on him. Wayne blocked the incoming fire with several skillful swings of his sickles before shifting his left weapon into SMG form to return fire. No wonder she's feared in the arena, Wayne thought, as he sent a steady burst of fully automatic fire at Pyrrha.

She raised her shield and deflected the incoming hail of bullets, using the cover of the shield to close the gap between them. Wayne charged as much energy into his right weapon as he could before she got close, sending out a small wave of energy that, much to his frustration, failed to connect as she spun out of the way and resumed charging with her shield raised. Her concentration had definitely improved now that Jaune was back with the team again, in fact she had managed to find one of the weaknesses in Wayne's semblance, his need to charge it a bit before releasing it.

Shifting his left weapon back to sickle form, Wayne raised his blades and blocked his charging opponent's shield, planting his feet in an effort to hold her back. He only had a moment before he had to spin out of the way of a downward sword slash, counter attacking with several swings at varying heights as he spun and maneuvered his way around Pyrrha's shield. She was quick, though, blocking high attacks with her shield and sword and stepping over and around his low attacks.

Wayne tried to catch her off guard by using a downward strike and bringing it back around by swinging it on his hidden wire, but like before it fell just off course. Pyrrha attempted to trip him with a low spinning kick, which Wayne jumped over as he countered with a high kick, which was also deflected by his opponent's shield. Wayne used his other foot to kick off the shield in midair, landing a few feet away from his opponent.

Wayne attempted to shift his weapon again, only to be stopped when Pyrrha threw her shield. Wayne narrowly managed to bash it away with his right weapon, sending it sliding across the floor. No you don't, thought Wayne as Pyrrha tried to charge past him to retrieve her shield. Sending his right weapon out on his sleeve wire, Wayne caught the shield with Crescent Fang and yanked it away from Pyrrha's grasp, tossing it far behind him as his weapon returned to his hand.

"Let's see how you do without that," said Wayne, placing himself between the shield and his opponent. Time to switch it up a little, he thought as he flipped his left sickle upside down, drawing a curious look from Pyrrha. Wayne joined the two weapons together, flipping both blades outward as Crescent Fang became a double bladed staff. Twirling the weapon over his head, Wayne charged his opponent as she switched her weapon to its spear form, blocking his initial downward strike.

The two fighters traded blows, with Pyrrha using several jabbing strikes while Wayne attacked and countered with several varied horizontal and vertical strikes from both ends of Crescent Fang. At one point, Wayne thought he had the upper hand as he managed to force Pyrrha backwards, beating down her spear until he saw an opening. Swinging his blade at her now exposed shoulder, Wayne was surprised to see his weapon veer off course slightly again as Pyrrha moved aside, her left hand raised. Wayne nearly stumbled from the missed attack, allowing Pyrrha the opportunity to counter attack, forcing Wayne back as he blocked with his own weapon. This time Wayne was on the defensive as Pyrrha shifted her weapon form between sword and spear and back again, attacking with a ferocity Wayne had never seen her use before, and worse, whenever Wayne was able to counter attack, his weapon was thrown off course.

I can't be missing this badly, Wayne thought as his latest counter attack veered off course just slightly enough to miss Pyrrha's midsection, forcing him back on the defensive as he tried to regain his balance. I wonder, Wayne thought, every time I miss is when she waves her hand. Wayne didn't have much time to plan, however, as Pyrrha's gold shield came into the corner of his vision.

Wayne backed up and planted his foot on the shield, preventing Pyrrha from grabbing it, or so he thought. Pyrrha kept reaching for the shield, which suddenly shifted under Wayne's foot, knocking him off balance. Pyrrha quickly shifted her weapon into its spear form and used its firing mechanism to propel the spear forward, knocking Wayne backwards as the shield came out from under his foot. Wayne fell backwards onto the floor as Pyrrha planted her foot on his weapon and placed her weapon, now in sword form, to his throat.

"Ok I'll admit it," said Wayne, breathing rather hard, "You're pretty good." "You're not bad yourself," said Pyrrha, somewhat short of breath. "And that's the match," announced Ms. Goodwitch, "Class is now dismissed, please enjoy your weekend, but I expect all assignments to be turned in on time." A collection of groans could be heard as Pyrrha removed her weapon, and her foot, from Wayne and helped him off the floor.

"It's a shame you only ever entered one tournament back in Sanctum," said Pyrrha, "I think you would've done well." "I had my reasons for not entering," said Wayne between breaths as he switched his weapons back to their SMG forms and stowed them in his coat. "Are you feeling alright," asked Ruby as the three teams made their way out of the class, "You're breathing more heavily than usual." "Price of my semblance," replied Wayne, "I can draw out and project large amounts of energy in multiple offensive forms, but the more energy I use the more it takes out of me, and I used several blasts just now." "Are you going to be okay?" asked Pyrrha. "It'll pass in a few minutes," replied Wayne.

"In the meantime tell us a little about your semblance," said Aegis to Pyrrha, "polarity right?" "Yes, but I thought Ruby would've told you," Replied Pyrrha. "Oh she told me," said Aegis, "But I never told Wayne."

"Yeah thanks for that," replied Wayne, "but if I didn't know before, I do now." "Well there's not really a lot to tell," Said Pyrrha, "My semblance gives me control over magnetism, which means I can move metal objects around." "And more often than not those objects are weapons," said Aegis, "I still thought it was funny when you tripped Wayne with your shield."

"Yeah not my best moment," Said Wayne, suddenly remembering something as he put his hand on his belt where an empty holder was. "Hey Weiss," Wayne said as he slowed his pace to come in step with the heiress.

"What do you want," replied Weiss in her usual stern tone she'd adopted when talking to either Wayne or Aegis. "Well two things now actually," replied Wayne, "One, do you know any good dust shops down in the city, and two, is there a reason you're still doing that." "What about the Dust Bowl, and what exactly am I doing?" questioned Weiss.

"That shop got broken into last week and got all of its dust stolen," Said Wayne, "and I mean speaking to me and my brother like our presence causes you physical pain or something." "Well there's also the Dustin' off, or the Dust and Guns," Weiss continued, "and I do not." "You're doing it right now," said Wayne, "You're talking like I'm some kind of annoyance and I know you don't talk to everyone else this way, mostly anyhow."

"Well maybe you should stop trying to tease me or trying to make me laugh," Weiss shot back. "Hey that's what you do with friends sometimes," replied Wayne, "And it wouldn't be near this bad if you'd actually try to have a sense of humor." "I have a sense of humor," replied Weiss, "But it's of a more refined taste." "Now **That** is a laugh," Wayne nearly chuckled as he spoke, "I'll bet if anyone else told the same jokes as me and Aegis you'd at least giggle or something."

"I would laugh, if your little quips were actually funny," Replied Weiss. "Oh they're funny," said Wayne, "Total strangers have laughed more than you have at me and Aegis's silly little 'quips' as you call them." "Really," said Weiss, obviously unconvinced. "Hey Aegis," Wayne called to his brother, "You seen my other pair of boots lately?" "Which pair," replied Aegis, "The ones on your feet or the ones up you're a## ." That got a few laughs from the others. "See he picks on me, but it's funny and everyone knows he doesn't mean it," Said Wayne.

"It's childish is what it is," Replied Weiss. "Only because you haven't tried it for yourself," Said Wayne, "The rules of proper etiquette don't apply to everything you know." "Fine, if it'll get you to be quiet, here's a joke," said Weiss, "What's the difference between a human meeting and a Faunus meeting?" "I don't know what?" asked Wayne. "One's called a meeting, the other's called a zoo," said Weiss.

Wayne raised his eyebrow at the poorly done joke as everyone else remained silent. "You are not to use that joke ever again," Said Aegis without turning around. "What, everyone back home laughs at it," said Weiss. "Most of them also work for your dad I'll bet," said Wayne, "Out here we have a thing called 'good taste' and that joke was not in good taste."

Wayne picked up his pace again and walked away from the now slightly dumbfounded heiress, "Anyway, thanks for the store names, remind me to teach you a few jokes when I get back." "Where're you going," asked Ruby. "I gotta make a run into the city for a bit, my dust canisters are low again," said Wayne before turning to Aegis, "Yo Aegis you need to run to the city?" "I got nothing better to do," Aegis replied. "Any of ya'll heading into the city?" Wayne asked everyone else. "We didn't have any plans to," said Yang. "None of us did either," said Pyrrha quickly, before Nora could burst out with something random. "Suit yourselves," said Wayne as he and Aegis turned a corner and separated from the group.

"Geez, she seriously told a joke like that," said Aegis, slightly frustrated. "Cut her some slack," said Wayne, "You know a lot of those high society types believe in appearing professional and dignified." "Yeah but I'm starting to think the only times she's gonna laugh will be at an opponent's defeat or world conquest," Said an annoyed Aegis.

"Or the sight of one of us in a painful but funny position," Said Wayne. "Like what," Asked Aegis, "One of us getting an icicle up our-Ufff," Aegis's sentence was stopped short as he walked right into a large, green-armored figure. "Oh sorry about that big guy," said Aegis as he backed away from Yatsuhashi, taking a rare moment to crane his head up. "You know I am still not used to seeing someone near my age taller than me," stated Aegis. Yatsuhashi simply nodded in understanding as the rest of team CFVY suddenly rounded the corner.

"Ah you two scoundrels," said Coco upon seeing the two brothers, "You weren't planning on heading to the training room today were you?" "Nah, we gotta head into the city right now," said Aegis. "My dust rounds are getting low again," Wayne added. "Well what a coincidence," said Coco, "Velvet and I happened to be low as well." "Didn't you restock last week," asked Wayne.

"You've seen how many rounds this thing fires," said Coco, holding up her black bag, "Are you really that surprised." "Come to think of it not really," said Wayne, wincing as he remembered the first, and so far only practice match he'd had against Coco. She'd kept him running around the arena with that weapon of hers nearly the entire time.

"What about them," asked Aegis, indicating Yatsuhashi and Fox. "They don't need the amount of dust that me and Velvet do," replied Coco, "And besides if I recall, Yatsuhashi here needed to work on fighting fast opponents a little more, didn't you?" Yatsuhashi put his fist to his palm and bowed before shortly turning to walk away with Fox in tow.

"I think they say less than Ren does," Whispered Aegis to Wayne. "I hate to bring this up now," said Velvet, shyly as usual, "But the big shop on the corner was broken into wasn't it?" "Yeah I heard about that," replied Wayne, "Fortunately there're a couple of other stores that may still have some dust." "Well what are we waiting for," said Coco as she suddenly grabbed the two brothers by their collars, "It's already afternoon and we're burning day light."

With that, the leader of team CFVY unceremoniously dragged them both down the hallway with Velvet following close behind. "If we're in that big of a hurry," said Wayne as he stumbled along while being led by Coco, "We could take me and Aegis's bikes." "Bro are you sure we should, oh I get it," said Aegis, winking while he was being dragged by Coco. "Get what?" asked Wayne. "I get it," Aegis repeated. This was a great way to spend a Friday, Wayne thought sarcastically.

In The City of Vale:

"Okay, don't expect anything too fancy," said Wayne as he opened the door to the storage facility, "My bike belonged to my mother during her academy days, while Aegis's is a used model our Dad got him for his sixteenth birthday." "Oh come on bro," said Aegis, "You make 'em sound boring when you explain it like that." The four friends walked by two other bikes before Wayne and Aegis stopped in front of an older looking cruiser bike and a mean-looking road bike.

"You mean these are yours," asked Velvet as she looked over the two bikes. Wayne's bike was silver, white, and black with what appeared to be a bear's head carved in metal on top of the motorcycle's center light. Aegis's bike was built like a black and yellow chopper with its own bear head design on the front light. "Well they're technically registered under our parent's names," Said Wayne, "but we're the ones that ride them normally."

Wayne moved over to his bike and sat down on the seat, checking over the bike quickly to make sure everything was in order. Aegis attempted to do the same, but was stopped by Coco as she started examining Aegis's bike with a great amount of interest. "I've always wanted to ride one of these," said Coco as she suddenly sat on Aegis's bike. "Toss me the keys would you," Asked Coco. "Oh no," said Aegis somewhat forcefully, "If anyone's driving it's gonna be me." "You can drive in a bit," replied Coco, "But right now I'm calling driver's position, so you can either get on or walk." "That's my bike," Aegis shot back. Wayne didn't bother listening to the rest of their bickering as he turned to Velvet.

"So what do you think," he asked Velvet, "Ridin' or drivin'?" "Oh no," replied Velvet shyly, "I don't know the first thing about driving one of these things, and I wouldn't want to offend you by trying to use your bike." "Hey so long as you ask nicely I wouldn't mind letting you drive it," said Wayne, "and so long as you didn't wreck it of course."

"If it's all the same to you I think I'll pass," Said Velvet. "Suit yourself," said Wayne, "Just hang on tight, I unfortunately don't have a helmet in your size." "That's okay," said Velvet as she shyly moved over to the back of the bike and awkwardly got on behind Wayne, clearly not sure where to place her hands. "Just put your arms around my waist," said Wayne. Velvet slowly obliged and slid her arms around Wayne's stomach, holding on gingerly. This is a little weird, thought Wayne. One glance over to Aegis, however, assured Wayne that it could've been worse.

His brother had somehow lost the argument and was now sitting on the back of his bike with his arms wrapped around Coco's waist, a look of obvious annoyance on his face. Wayne pulled out a key chain with a few keys and a garage door opener on it. The doors slid up in response to the switch on the garage door opener as Wayne and Coco put their keys in the ignition. Both bikes roared to life, with a few loud revs as Wayne and Coco worked the gas on the motorcycles.

"Hang on tight back there," Wayne yelled over the noise as he shifted the bike into gear and gunned the engine. The two growling bikes shot forward, bouncing a little on the way out as Coco took the lead with Wayne close behind her. Velvet's grip on Wayne's waist suddenly turned into an iron vice as they sped towards the city. Despite the death grip from his frightened passenger, Wayne was enjoying the ride as the wind whipped by his head and through Velvet's hair as they sped down the street, weaving between cars, taking a turn every so often as the scenery went speeding by at a rate too fast for them to see very clearly.

Coco was driving like an expert and Wayne had to put all of his skill into just trying to stay behind her as she sped through the streets, drifting from side to side until finally, after several minutes, Coco suddenly slowed down, prompting Wayne to pull up next to her. Wayne had to hit the brakes again as Coco came to a complete stop in front of an older looking store with a large circular sign decorated with what appeared to be bullets and explosions.

"Welcome to the Dust and Guns," said Coco as she set the bike in park and pried Aegis's arms off of her waist. Wayne waited patiently as Velvet slowly slid out from behind him and joined her leader heading towards the door, while Wayne and Aegis made sure the bikes were secure. "How was the ride," asked Wayne when the two girls had gone just out of earshot.

"That girl is ### crazy," replied Aegis, "She drives like a maniac." "You don't drive much better," Wayne pointed out. "Yeah but at least I give some kind of warning to the passenger before I bob and weave my way through traffic and take sharp turns around the corner," Aegis complained. "Well maybe you can convince her to drive a little slower next time," replied Wayne, "I mean your track record for convincing her to do anything is great so far."

"Shut up," said Aegis, slightly annoyed as he turned to enter the store with Wayne smirking close behind. The store had a rather basic lay out with a checkout counter at the back, several dust dispensers lining the wall arranged by color, and several rows of shelves containing everything from dust ammunition to dust cylinders, dust shells, and even some empty dust bombs. "Why haven't we heard of this place until now," asked Aegis as he examined two different dust cylinders.

"Let's see," replied Wayne as he ran his hand over some of the labels on the dust ammunition, "The other store was closer, had the stuff we were looking for at a reasonable price, and the manager gave us a discount because the students from Beacon academy always gave his store good business." "Oh yeah," said Aegis as he finally selected a cylinder he liked.

"But when was the last time we got to go shopping with a couple of girls in a place that sells everything from dust ammunition to dust bombs?" Asked Aegis. "Does that one time Ruby and Yang showed us the last shop not count," Wayne asked back. "We just happened to bump into them that day, remember," Replied Aegis, "And they only hung around long enough to get what they needed before they had to head back to Beacon." Wayne thought for a second before he spoke, "Wait, you aren't thinking of trying to turn this whole shopping errand into some sort of date thing are you?" "Who me," replied Aegis as innocently as he could, "How could you even think that Wayne?"

"Oh it can't possibly be the fact that you pulled almost the same thing once back in Signal Academy, how'd that turn out again," Questioned Wayne. "Oh this ain't like that," said Aegis, "There were only three of us that time, hanging out and shopping for dust and she and I managed to wander off down the street." "You and that girl managed to wander an entire block while I was checking out and I had to track the both of y'all down, by scent, which is not easy to do in a city area by the way," Wayne said, feeling slight annoyance at the memory.

"I told you I was sorry didn't I," said Aegis, acting only slightly apologetic, "And look at the bright side, this'll work out better." "How," asked Wayne, "Because there happen to be two of them this time and you think you'll have better luck wooing one or the other?" "Not quite," replied Aegis, "I've decided this time to try and be a little more subtle."

"You," Wayne said with a raised eyebrow, "subtle." "What I mean," replied Aegis, "Is that this time, instead of trying to put the moves on either of them just yet, I'm gonna try and get to know 'em a little better, you know casual conversation and everything to help us all warm up to each other." "Wait," said Wayne with slight concern, "You're not trying to set me up too are you?"

"Only if you feel like being set up," Replied Aegis with a mischievous grin. "You're unbelievable some days you know that," Said Wayne as he finished pulling the dust cartridges he was looking for off the shelves. "Maybe," replied Aegis, "But I don't hear you saying 'no' to the idea either." Wayne spotted Coco and Velvet coming down the aisle, prompting him to speak to Aegis in a whisper.

"Just don't get us shot to shreds," said Wayne, "And don't expect me to play along if it starts going downhill." "Fair enough," Aegis whispered back as Coco and Velvet came within earshot. "Is that all you're going to buy," asked Coco, eyeing the large handful of dust cartridges in Wayne's hands and the two dust cylinders Aegis had picked out.

"We already got most of what we need to clean and maintain our weapons," replied Wayne as he looked at the huge amount of dust ammo and weapon cleaning supplies Coco had bought, "You don't need as much when you're weapons are designed to fire straight up dust." "You mean you're SMGs fire dust?" Asked Coco. Wayne held up one of the cartridges as he spoke, "I imagine you've heard of the process," he said, "They fill cartridges with energy dust, allowing the weapon to fire energized bolts which have similar impacts to regular dust ammunition, but ammo capacity is greatly increased without increasing the size of the magazine."

"Oh I've heard of it," replied Coco, "It does sound handy, until you learn that they still haven't developed armor piercing energy cartridges." "In some ways they have," said Aegis, holding up one of the cylinders, "They've been trying to come up with a cartridge designed along a similar path as these cylinders."

"Oh have they," said Coco, not quite convinced. "All though they haven't developed actual armor piercing energy rounds, the manufacturers have developed several alternatives which allow the user to switch out which type of dust they're using in the cartridges, but their hope is that if they can come up with a cartridge which can handle two or three types of dust at the same time, then they could produce armor piercing energy rounds."

"You've both looked into this," Asked Coco. "Well I was going for versatility as opposed to just raw power with my weapon," said Wayne, "I thought a weapon with multiple uses in and out of combat would prove the most effective, and so far my Crescent Fangs have kept me alive." "And that goes double for my Ursus's Cleaver," Said Aegis.

"If it works for you," said Coco, "But as for me," she patted her black bag lovingly, "I'll just stick to ripping things to shreds." "To each their own," said Wayne as they turned and headed towards the checkout counter. "You know come to think of it," said Aegis as they were checking out, "You haven't told us anything about your weapon Velvet."

"Oh this," said Velvet quietly, "It's a box which runs on energy dust, it's not like any of your weapons, it takes time to build up, but once it does." "The poor sap caught on the receiving end of it is dead," Coco finished for Velvet. "I'll keep that in mind," said Wayne, examining the box.

"Oh no, I wouldn't use it on either of you, it could hurt you both very badly," Said Velvet nervously. "Relax," said Aegis, "No one's talking about using their weapons on each other, at least not right now." "Speak for yourself," said Coco as they finished checking out, "If we get a chance for another sparring session, I'm gonna make you both dance under a hail of bullets." "Yeah, we kind of figured," Said Wayne, as he and Aegis both laughed nervously. She'd do it too, Wayne thought as he remembered the last time he'd had to dance around her weapons high rate of fire, and what an intricate dance for survival it had been.

"Gosh, that is unbelievable," said Aegis as the four students made their way out of the shop, "Ever since those robberies started, dust prices have gone up too $# # # high." "What are you complaining about," said Coco, "You don't buy several thousand rounds of ammunition, imagine how I feel having to spend so much money on ammunition some days that I can't even go in my favorite clothing stores because I'm short on lien."

"Speaking of which," said Wayne, "What're we gonna do with the rest of our Friday afternoon now?" Aegis raised his hand before he spoke, "I vote nearest coffee shop," he said. "Well it is a nice day for a walk," said Velvet, rather sheepishly. "I'm good with whatever," said Wayne, "Just don't expect me to actually drink any coffee." Coco looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered. "Oh fine, why not," Coco said, "It's supposed to be our day off of training anyway."

Wayne and the others rode along to the nearest coffee shop following directions from Aegis as he yelled over his motorcycle's engine at Coco, who was still driving while Aegis had to sit on the back. "Where did you learn to drive a motorcycle?" asked Aegis as they parked and headed towards the coffee shop a couple blocks away, "You do know that bike wasn't designed for such sharp turns, right?"

"It seemed to do fine for me," replied Coco, "Maybe you should try driving a little more creatively." "I would," said Aegis, "But someone's been hogging MY motorcycle all day." "It's not my fault you have bad luck at coin tosses and rock-paper-scissors," Replied Coco. "You kicked me in the d# # when you did that coin toss," said Aegis, "You probably flipped it over while I was focusing on not collapsing to the ground." "You can't prove that," said Coco.

The two continued to argue over the finer points of fair game as they sat down, with Coco and Velvet sitting across from Wayne and Aegis. "I know I keep asking this," Wayne said while leaning forward in an attempt to whisper to Velvet, "But is she really like this all the time?" "She is a bit different from your typical girl isn't she?" replied Velvet.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing," replied Wayne, "But she does seem to like messing with people a bit." "She's always done things her own way," said Velvet, "It might seem odd at times, but at the end of the day she always comes through for the team." "I guess that's why she got elected team leader," said Wayne, "That or she kicked Ozpin in the d # too."

Velvet actually laughed a little at that. Fairly soon, a waiter came out and took their orders, with Aegis ordering coffee and two or three different types of donuts, all with honey in or on them, Velvet got some carrot-flavored drink, Wayne got some orange juice, and Coco, after kicking Aegis in the shin under the table for suggesting hot cocoa, simply got black coffee.

"So why don't you drink coffee," asked Velvet. "The after taste always got to me," replied Wayne as he finished another drink, "Same reason I don't drink tea, even though I've been told a million times how healthy it can be." "Well I know tea and coffee aren't for everyone, but," Velvet glanced at the four other glasses sitting next to Wayne on the table, "You don't seem to mind drinking everything else."

"What can I say," replied Wayne as he started on another drink, "some people like eating certain things or using certain sauces, I just like drinking a whole lot of flavored stuff," Wayne drained a glass down to half before he continued, "And what about you, what are your preferences." "Well I like to eat vegetables, obviously," replied Velvet, "Other than that I'm not all that picky."

"Except on salad day in the cafeteria," Coco suddenly chimed in. "You know I don't like how they prepare the olives," Velvet replied with a playful whine in her voice. "You don't go on an all vegetarian diet do you," asked Aegis, his mouth full of whatever pastry he'd been eating. "I mean I do eat meat occasionally," replied Velvet, "But I prefer something a little less tough." "That's because you love doing that gnawing thing," Said Coco. "It's a habit," Velvet whined as everyone one else laughed for a bit.

"You wanna know a bad habit," said Wayne, "Aegis here keeps trying to huff dust to wake himself up in the morning." "I told you it's an experiment," Said an annoyed Aegis. "How's that supposed to work," asked Coco, "Early morning brain-freeze." "Brain freeze, brain fry, brain flash, brain rocks," Said Wayne, "Have you tried flash freezing yet?"

"It doesn't go to my brain," Said Aegis. "Well of course not," replied Wayne, "You need a brain first for the dust to go there." "A #," Aegis said punching Wayne in the arm playfully as everyone else laughed. After talking for a few more minutes, they paid for their drinks and headed back towards the motorcycles. As they walked, everyone finally started taking note of the numerous signs and decorations which were being hung.

"You know I normally don't care for cities," said Wayne, "But the last couple of times I went to this festival, I actually enjoyed myself." "What do you got against cities," asked Coco. "Oh Wayne doesn't like places with lots of people," Said Aegis. "Why's that," asked Velvet.

"It's not that I don't like people," said Wayne, "But when you grow up in a small town just outside of the kingdom, you tend to get used to small crowds." "Speaking of small crowds," Aegis said as he pointed out a few familiar faces, "Didn't they say they were staying at Beacon today." Wayne and the others looked at where Aegis was pointing. Sure enough, on the other side of the street about a block away was team RWBY, talking to a ginger-haired girl with a bow on her head, wearing an odd pink-skirt with black and green-striped pants. "You wanna say hi or just yell at them from across the street like an idiot?" asked Wayne.

"I'm not sure we should bother them right now," said Velvet, "They look kind of busy." "How about we drop down on 'em from the roof top," Aegis whispered to Wayne. "That sounds like a worse idea than yelling across the street," Replied Wayne. "Too late," said Aegis as he jumped up onto a lamp post and then onto the roof on the other side of the street.

"What's he planning on doing now," asked Coco. "I don't know," Replied Wayne as he started heading towards the other side of the street, "But it's likely gonna get him punched in the face again." "So what, are you going to warn them?" asked Coco. "I really don't think what Aegis is doing is a good idea to be honest," said Velvet.

"What I'm going to do is see what happens," replied Wayne, "You two can come along or wait here." The two girls kept up pace behind Wayne, apparently they were curious about Aegis's little plan too. By the time Wayne got less than half a block away, team RWBY had stopped talking to the unknown girl as Blake and Weiss appeared to be at each other's throats about something, Wayne could hear the shouting easily. Pulling out his scroll, Wayne dialed Aegis's number and waited. "Wayne now's not really the time," said Aegis.

"You're right," said Wayne as he spotted Aegis on the roof just in front of them, "You'd best get back here now, because I do not wanna deal with any of whatever drama's happening over there right now." "Oh come on," said Aegis as he continued creeping forward on the roof while team RWBY remained oblivious, "Maybe this'll cheer 'em up." "I highly doubt scaring the #$& out of them will make things better," replied Wayne.

"Wayne's probably right," said Velvet, "getting involved now might only make things worse." "I vote he goes for it," said Coco, "Whatever issue they're having over there is probably stupid anyway." "Coco," Wayne and Velvet said at the same time. "Okay, I'm going for it," said Aegis over the scroll." "Dag blast it," Wayne said as he put up his scroll, "and the day was going so well too."

Wayne lengthened the wire in his right sleeve as he leaped up to a nearby lamp post. As Aegis prepared to pounce from the roof, Wayne slung the wire at his unsuspecting brother. Aegis had just started leaping as the wire wrapped around his left leg, pulling him out of the air. What Wayne didn't count on, however, was another lamppost which Aegis fell over, catching the wire and pulling Wayne forward. Wayne grabbed a hold of the lamppost with his left hand as the weight of his brother and his grip on the lamppost kept him suspended over the side walk.

"Hey what gives," yelled Aegis, who was now hanging upside down from a lamppost. "It's called time and place Aegis," Wayne said as he tried, with little success, to adjust his position in the air, "And this is not the time or the place." "I don't know," replied Aegis, "I'm sure one of our plans didn't involve us hanging upside down from lampposts." "I'll admit," said Wayne, "this was not my best idea."

"So are you two gonna hang around all day or what?" Wayne and Aegis looked down to where Coco and Velvet had shown up. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but team RWBY is kind of leaving right now." "Oh that's just great," said Aegis, "and I had something hilarious planned too." "Like what," questioned Wayne, "Hopping down behind them and yelling 'boo' really loud?" "No, it would've been more like roaring really loud behind them and seeing what happens," Said Aegis.

"Well either way," said Coco from down below, "They're gone now and you two are still hanging from lampposts." "Yeah yeah," replied Wayne, "Working on it, Aegis if you wouldn't mind?" "One step ahead of you," said Aegis as he reached up and undid the wire from his leg, "Okay, here goes." Aegis adjusted his position and hung from the wire by his hand for a moment before swinging forward, releasing the wire in midair.

Wayne retracted the wire as he let go of the lamppost and flipped forward, landing on his feet shortly after Aegis. "Well you accomplished one thing," Coco said as she looked at her scroll, "You both make great pictures when you're embarrassing yourselves." "Oh don't tell me," said Wayne as Aegis joined the group. "She snapped a picture didn't she," groaned Aegis.

"Well it was a memorable day after all," replied Coco with her usual mischievous smile. "You aren't going to spread that all over the message boards are you?" asked Velvet. "Of course not," replied Coco, "Consider it a secret between you, me, and all of our friends." "Well there goes the rest of my weekend," said Wayne. "Both our weekends," added Aegis.

"Well either way it's been fun," said Coco, "But I think it's time we got back to Beacon." "Alright, but I'm driving this time." Said Aegis. "Alright," relented Coco, "But in exchange you can't complain about me showing this picture to anyone." Aegis frowned for a bit, but finally nodded as they headed back towards the brother's bikes. Needless to say, the ride back was a little less nerve-racking than the ride in, but not by much.

 **And that brings us to the end of a lengthy, but hopefully enjoyable chapter for everyone. I'd also like to say thank you to 'tforce' for my first review if he's read this far and thank you to everyone else who's given my story a chance. Tune in next time as Wayne and Aegis try to discreetly deal with a little team RWBY drama.**


	9. A Stray and Her Secrets

**A Stray and Her Secrets**

Beacon Dorms

"For the last time, I did not have some master plan for the shopping trip," said Wayne as he and Aegis made their way to the stairs, "The plan was to go to the shop, buy some dust, and head back, that was as far as I got with any kind of planning." "So you mean to tell me that you didn't at least consider trying to make a move," Remarked Aegis. "I think I considered my good health first," replied Wayne, "Besides, it's not like you tried anything." "I was going to," said Aegis, "But I figured you would try something with Velvet, I mean she was riding with you, and I thought about making a move on Coco until she kicked me in the balls while we were discussing who should drive my bike." "And you didn't think about trying anything the rest of the time," asked Wayne. "I thought about it," replied Aegis, "But then I decided I liked having intact testicles." "That's about what I was thinking," Said Wayne, "Maybe if it had been just me and Velvet, I might've tried something slightly romantic." "And if it had been just you and Coco," asked Aegis.

"I would've respected her personal space, a lot," replied Wayne, "Not because she isn't likeable, but mostly because I like my good health." "Well maybe we'll both get a chance with some of the girls at this academy." Said Aegis, patting Wayne on the shoulder. "Well we've managed to make it through a good portion of the year without wrecking too much so far, which considering our track record at the other two academies is amazing" Said Wayne, "So I guess anything's possible at this point." By now, they had made it up the stairs and too their door. Aegis was fiddling with his scroll to open the door when they both heard voices coming from down stairs. "It's about time they got back," said Aegis as the voices of team RWBY became more distinct. Wayne, Aegis, Coco, and Velvet had gotten back an hour earlier, but Aegis had insisted on testing some of the dust cylinders he'd bought at the practice room, which of course resulted in another piece of broken training equipment. Fortunately, it was the type of training equipment which was easily replaceable, so Wayne and Aegis had gotten off without any issues. Now here they were, listening to the sounds of Blake and Weiss arguing as Aegis finally got the door open. "And I thought we'd be able to avoid that this evening," said Wayne as they entered their dorm. One of the fortunate things about being a half-faunus, as Wayne and Aegis knew, were the enhanced senses such as the night vision, an improved sense of smell, and really good hearing. Though on occasion they had their downsides, such as tonight. Despite their door being closed and down the hall a little ways from team RWBY's dorm, both Wayne and Aegis could still hear bits and pieces of their argument from time to time.

"How can they still be arguing," said Aegis, examining one of his dust cylinders as he spoke. "The issue is about the White Fang," said Wayne as he examined his Crescent Fangs, "You and I both know that's a bit of a sore spot for Weiss, given their opposition to her family's company, and by the sound of it, Weiss's issues are an issue for Blake." "Well the Schnee family painted a target on their backs when they decided to stick with those outdated Faunus labor practices." Said Aegis, annoyance creeping into his voice. "Yes and that's a sore spot for the both of us," replied Wayne as he pulled out a sharpening stone and started running it along the blade of one of his weapons, "But, remember what Mom and Dad told us over the terminal the first week of school, Weiss isn't in charge of the company right now-," "Yeah yeah," said Aegis, "Don't blame her, it's not her fault, be nice and she might see the error of her family's ways and all that."

"Exactly," said Wayne as he started sharpening his other Crescent Fang. "You know it would be a lot easier if she wasn't such a-," "Remember where she comes from," said Wayne, cutting Aegis off, "She's been raised to be an heiress, which means she's gonna expect to be treated a certain way." "Yeah I know that," replied Aegis, "but that doesn't give her any right to treat others like dirt." "And that," said Wayne, examining the blades of his weapons, "Is exactly why we keep telling her how it is out in the rest of the world." Wayne stowed his Crescent Fangs in the holster next to him, satisfied that they were in order before he spoke again. "Besides, she's not as big of a pain as she was when the year first started." "The racist joke earlier and still refusing to talk to us in an actual conversation says otherwise," Replied Aegis, "And if you've been listening, she still thinks of the Faunus as untrustworthy beings."

"Yeah I've been listening," said Wayne, "It's just something that she'll have too-," Wayne stopped short when he suddenly heard the sound of running feet. Leaping to the door, he opened it with enough time to see a streak of black hair going by as Blake ran down the hall. "Blake, where are you going," Ruby screamed from the dorm room. "What's going on," asked Aegis from behind Wayne. "Not sure," said Wayne as he made his way down the hall where Blake had gone. But it was too late, wherever Blake had headed, she was long gone. Wayne headed back towards team RWBYs dorm, where Aegis was talking to Ruby and Yang. "She's gone," said Wayne. "Can't we follow her scent," asked Aegis. "Yes, but I think she's scared right now," said Wayne, "Following her might make it worse." "Blake and Weiss were arguing," said Yang, "Then she just ran out of the room." "What'd you say to her," demanded Aegis, stepping into the room where Weiss was still standing. "All I was saying was the honest truth," Replied Weiss, in a slightly irritated tone, "Then she comes out and says-,"

"Weiss," Ruby suddenly cut Weiss off. Weiss looked over at Ruby, an annoyed expression on her face before she turned back to Wayne and Aegis to speak. "Blake was defending the White Fang, and then ran out of the room when the argument wasn't going her way." "Well we still need to at least find her," said Aegis, "her scent is still strong and-," "NO," said Yang and Ruby suddenly, prompting confused expressions from both Wayne and Aegis. "I mean she probably just needs to cool down right now," said Yang, "And Wayne said it himself, if you go after her, you might make it worse." "But we can't just-," Aegis tried to protest. "Aegis," said Wayne, putting his hand on Aegis's shoulder before he could get too far, "its fine." Wayne walked out the door, turning once to Yang and Ruby. "Sorry to barge in like that," he said as he motioned for an annoyed Aegis to follow. The two brothers went back to their room, Aegis clearly fuming as Wayne closed the door. "So what was that about," asked Aegis, irritated. "They don't want us getting involved," replied Wayne. "Oh come on," said Aegis, "Blake obviously let some secret or piece of drama slip and now the girls are covering for her and to make matters worse, Blake's gone." "Yes I know I was there," said Wayne, "But whatever's happening with team RWBY right now, we can't just demand answers from them, they're our friends, we need to respect their privacy." "So what, do we just sit around and do nothing then," asked Aegis. "Yes and no," Replied Wayne. "What," Aegis's look of agitation was replaced with a look of annoyed confusion. "We're not gonna pry, but we will keep our ears and eyes open," Said Wayne, "With luck, whatever's going on won't turn out to be that serious, but in the meantime," Wayne kicked off his boots and laid down on his bed, "We may as well get some sleep."

Two Days Later: Beacon Courtyard

"Still nothing," said Aegis as he and Wayne walked through the courtyard, "The girl's been gone from classes for two days now." "And what's worse," said Wayne, "Nobodies seen hide nor hair of her anywhere on campus." Wayne and Aegis stopped in front of the Beacon monument, as Wayne tried sniffing the ground again. Blake's smell had mostly faded, covered by numerous other scents of students who had walked by the monument. Wayne still thought it strange though, the first time him and Aegis had sniffed the spot, the morning after Blake had ran out of team RWBY's dorm, he'd smelled a monkey Faunus, one neither of them recognized. "Forget it Wayne I've already tried that," said Aegis, "The scent leads to the airship docks and stops, and before you ask, no I haven't smelled any fresh scents at the docks either." Wayne stood back up, lost in thought as he rested his hand on his chin. "Look I know you wanted to stay out of this," said Aegis, "But I don't think this is just gonna blow over." Wayne took a moment longer to think before answering, "Alright," Wayne conceded, "What do you have in mind for fixing this little problem?"

"Well first we're gonna need the keys to our bikes," said Aegis. "You know I overheard that Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were probably going out looking for Blake today," said Wayne. "And that's exactly what we're gonna do," replied Aegis, "I don't imagine she's gone too far if she's still in the city, and if she is in the city we should be able to sniff her out." "Okay," said Wayne, "Say we do find her, which isn't likely in a big city even with both our noses, what then?" "Well we find out what the big deal is, convince her it's not a big deal and get team RWBY back together," Replied Aegis. "You make it sound so simple," said Wayne as they turned and headed back towards their dorms. "Aren't you the one always telling me that most drama is only big because people make it out to be worse than it actually is?" "Yeah I've said that to you, and so have Mom and Dad," replied Wayne. "Then what's the problem," said Aegis happily as he slapped Wayne on the back, causing him to wince. "This was just the last thing I expected to be doing today," Replied Wayne. "You mean hunting down a cat Faunus, and possibly a monkey Faunus too?" Asked Aegis. "No, trying to convince a couple of girls to kiss and make up," replied Wayne, "Remember, we still got to convince Blake and Weiss to get along." A look of realization, then what might've been fear crossed Aegis's face. "Oh yeah," Aegis said, "Well one thing at a time right?" "Well maybe we'll get lucky and they'll both be in a good mood," Said Wayne. "Knowing us," said Aegis, "Whatever luck we have is gonna run out shortly after we find Blake."

The airship ride to the city was fairly uneventful as Wayne and Aegis discussed where Blake would most likely be, which actually depressed Wayne a little when he realized how little he and Aegis actually knew about Blake, other than she liked books a lot, and tuna, was a good student, and a cat Faunus, which Wayne doubted even the rest of their friends knew about the last part. Eventually, they both decided to start with the book stores, and whichever cafes or restaurants sold a lot of fish. "So who goes where?" asked Wayne as they entered the garage and mounted their bikes. "Well you know a lot more about literature than I do," said Aegis, "And I know a lot more about food than you do so." Aegis hit the clicker on his keys which opened the garage door. "So I think you should search the restaurants and I'll search the book stores," Said Aegis. "That sounds like the opposite of what we should be doing," said Wayne as he flipped the kickstand up on his bike. "No it makes perfect sense if you think about," replied Aegis, "According to reverse psychology if you say the opposite of what you want, then you'll get what you want." "But I thought we both wanted to find Blake," said Wayne, slightly confused. "We do," replied Aegis, "But I'll bet you wanted to look for her at the book stores right?" "Personally I don't really care one way or the other-," "You see you're doing it right now," said Aegis, cutting off Wayne, "Because you obviously wanna go to the book stores and I obviously wanna go to the restaurants because I am about to get hungry again." Wayne rolled his eyes as he put his helmet on and closed the mouth guard, "Let's just go," he said. Without another word, they both started their motorcycles and sped out of the garage towards the city. Hope you're doing ok Blake, Wayne thought.

They split up as soon as they reached the city limits, with Aegis heading right and Wayne heading left. Wayne navigated the streets at a much slower pace than he normally did, keeping an eye out for Blake's distinctive black hair and bow. Soon enough, Wayne arrived at the section of the city which housed most of the restaurants and cafes. Here goes nothing, Wayne thought as he found a place to park his bike that didn't have some sort of timer on it. Wayne took a moment to remove his helmet, securing it to the back of his belt, and another moment to lock up his motorcycle in a way where it couldn't be stolen easily. As soon as that was out of the way, Wayne began walking along the sidewalk, glancing in at different restaurant windows and looking around the street, sniffing the air every so often for Blake's familiar cat-like scent. I hope no one thinks this looks weird, Wayne thought as he turned a corner, his nose lifted as he took another whiff of the air. Then again, he thought, Aegis would probably be sniffing every aisle at the book store, which Wayne supposed looked weirder than sniffing food.

Some Hours Later: The City of Vale

Well this is getting really old, really fast, thought Wayne as he made his way out of restaurant number, actually he'd lost count a while back, but either way, he hadn't seen Blake anywhere, or even caught her scent, and the food at the restaurants wasn't helping. Music suddenly started playing as he withdrew his scroll from his pocket and answered the call. "Anything so far," asked Aegis over the scroll. "Nothing yet," said Wayne. "Oh come on," said Aegis, "It's been three hours already." "Three and a half actually," said Wayne, checking the time on his scroll. "Either way, you'd think we'd have something by now." Said Aegis. "I told you this wasn't going to be easy," said Wayne, "These big cities have got a lot more smells floating around than the forests back home." "Yeah yeah I know," said Aegis, "I just hoped it wouldn't take this long." "Remember what Mom and Dad always taught us about hunting," said Wayne. "Have patience, yeah I remember," replied Aegis, fighting the irritation in his voice. "And also remember that this was your idea," said Wayne. "I didn't say we were done yet," said Aegis. "Good to hear," said Wayne, trying to sound encouraging. "Alright just keep looking," said Aegis, "Check back in another couple of hours if you still haven't found anything."

"Will do," said Wayne as the call ended on his scroll. This really is going nowhere fast though, thought Wayne as he kept on walking down the street. Several more minutes passed until Wayne finally came out of the main restaurant district and started walking down the part of the street which seemed to hold all of the cafes. Wayne continued to sniff the air as he kept an eye out for any sign of Blake. I really hope she doesn't get mad at us if we find her, Wayne thought suddenly, it would be kind of annoying if we looked for this long only to deal with an angry cat Faunus who didn't want to be-. Wayne stopped suddenly as a strange scent entered his nostrils. Wayne quickly kneeled down on the sidewalk, wiping his gloved hand on the ground as he took another whiff. This scent, he thought, it belonged to that monkey Faunus, which means. Wayne sniffed around on the ground a little more, taking in large whiffs of multiple scents until he finally found what he was looking for. Please tell me that's you, thought Wayne as he continued moving along the ground, following the familiar scent.

Now I definitely know this looks weird, Wayne thought as he continued moving low to the ground. Soon enough, Wayne had tracked the two scents to a café which had some sort of outdoor rooftop setting. Wayne entered the café, keeping his eyes peeled. A waitress greeted Wayne, telling him he could sit anywhere he wanted, it was a light day for the café. Wayne looked around, but didn't see Blake anywhere, so he headed upstairs. Maybe I should try doing this more subtly, Wayne thought as he made his way up the stairs. Opening the door, Wayne had to resist the urge to call out. Seated at one of the tables near the balcony sat Blake, talking to a monkey Faunus Wayne had never seen before. Ok, thought Wayne, as he approached slowly, try and keep quiet for the moment, see if you can't figure out what's going on. Blake hadn't seen him yet, although she seemed fairly distracted by something, while her monkey Faunus companion simply sat at the table with a bored expression on his face, sipping out of a tea cup with his tail. "So you want to know more about me," Blake said to the Monkey Faunus suddenly as Wayne sat at one of the tables behind Blake. "Finally she speaks," said the Monkey Faunus. Wayne started looking at one of the menus, trying to look as casual as he could while listening to their conversation. "Are you familiar with the White Fang," asked Blake to the Monkey Faunus, "Of Course," he responded loudly, "I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them." Or half-Faunus, thought Wayne as the Monkey Faunus droned on about the White Fang being a bunch of freaks. The waitress had brought Wayne a glass of soda, which he decided to drink while still listening. What's the White Fang got to do with anything? He thought.

"I was once a member of the White Fang," said Blake. The monkey Faunus choked on some of the tea he was drinking, while Wayne spat out a good portion of his soda. Ok, Wayne thought, that is not a small issue. Wayne risked a slight glance back and, seeing that Blake hadn't noticed his reaction, went back to trying to act natural as Blake explained how and why she had been a member of the White Fang. Wayne listened as Blake told her story, of how she was practically born into the White Fang, how it started off as an organization for peaceful coexistence between Faunus and humans (something Wayne had actually researched at one point), and how the White Fang's methods had drastically changed with the introduction of its new leader. What surprised Wayne the most, however, was the end of Blake's story, of how she was no longer a member of the White Fang, having fled because she no longer wished to be a part of their violence against humanity, and how she now hoped to become a huntress. "And so here I am," Blake said as her story came to a close, "A criminal hiding in plain sight, all with the help of a little black bow." "So," the monkey Faunus asked Blake, "Have you told any of your friends this?" "No," said Wayne as he turned to face the two, "As a matter of fact she hasn't."

 **That brings us to the end of this much shorter chapter. Once again I'd like to say thank you to my reviewers, followers, and everyone who has given this story a chance, and if anyone has any advice about chapter length or grammar, just let me know. Check in next time to see how Wayne will react to Blake's secret, and his little brother getting into another jam. 'Til next time everyone.**


	10. Conflicting Viewpoints

**Conflicting Viewpoints**

"Wayne," Blake said, obviously surprised, "What are you doing here?" "As it just so happens," replied Wayne, "I was looking for you." "Blake who is this guy," the monkey Faunus asked, "Not trouble is he?" "No it's ok Sun he's a friend," said Blake, turning to the monkey Faunus before turning back to Wayne. "Sun huh," said Wayne, "That your name?" "Yeah Sun Wukong," replied the monkey Faunus. "Wayne Ursario," said Wayne as he got up and shook Sun's hand before sitting down at the table with them. "How did you find me," asked Blake. "The same way I find my brother when he gets lost," replied Wayne as he tapped his nose, "I sniffed you out." "Wait, you mean you put your nose to the ground and sniffed her out like a dog or something?" Exclaimed Sun. "Kind of," said Wayne, "It was more like a bear sniffing out honey." "Where'd you learn to do that?" Asked Sun. "I've always had the ability, but it was my mother who taught me how to zero in on specific scents." Replied Wayne.

"You must have some mother," said Sun. "You have no idea," Replied Wayne. "That still doesn't explain why you came looking for me," Blake commented. "Oh come on that should be obvious," said Wayne, "Everyone's worried about you, especially your team, well two thirds anyway." "But they know what I am now," said Blake. "Blake, five minutes ago all I knew about you was that you liked books and were a cat Faunus." "So I guess you overheard everything then?" asked Blake. "I overheard enough to understand why you ran," replied Wayne, "But personally, I think you should at least go back long enough to tell your team the truth." "But how can I," exclaimed Blake, "How can I just tell my teammates that I was once part of one of the most feared, violent Faunus organizations on the planet." "You can start with the fact that you're no longer a part of them," said Wayne, "As you said earlier they weren't always like that, and it's the fact that they became what they are now that you're no longer a member right?" "I know but it's not that simple," said Blake, "Weiss is-." Wayne cut Blake off. "Weiss is kind of discriminatory, believe me I know, and convincing her will be a problem, but she's also part of your team and who knows, once she knows you're no longer a member of the White Fang, she just might come around."

Blake sat in silence for a moment before she spoke, a half-hearted sarcastic smirk on her face. "I never knew you could be this big of an optimist Wayne." "I wouldn't call it optimism," replied Wayne with a slight shrug, "I just try not to make a situation seem worse than it actually is." "But this situation is big Wayne," said Blake, "Weiss distrusts the Faunus so much because of the White Fang." Wayne rested his hand on his chin in thought for a moment before he responded, "Well you could try showing her that the White Fang aren't responsible for every bad thing that's happened in her life, I mean there are plenty of bad humans in the world too, like whoever's robbing the dust shops right now." Blake lowered her head, obviously lost in thought. "Look no one ever said it was gonna be easy," said Wayne, "I've encountered many people who hate things without good reason, but I think if you can show Weiss that the Faunus can be trusted, that you can be trusted, then you shouldn't have any reason to run from your friends." "I just don't know," said Blake. Wayne was about to continue when his scroll started ringing. "Oh not now Aegis," said Wayne as he answered the call on his scroll. "Now's not really a good time man." "Well could you make time?" Asked Aegis. "Oh no what'd you do," asked Wayne, already dreading the answer. "Well you know how I was looking around in the bookstores," Aegis said, "Well I bumped into a few temperamental transfer students from Atlas and, long story short we did not get along." "You got in a fight with them," Groaned Wayne. "Yeah and I think I heard one calling for reinforcements," said Aegis, "So you know if you're not too busy." Wayne let out a sigh as he answered, "Alright sit tight I'm on my way." "Who was that," asked Sun. "My brother stirring up trouble again," Wayne replied standing up, "I gotta go, but at least think on it would ya, Blake." "Ok," said Blake with a nod. Wayne quickly paid the bill and headed off towards where Aegis was at in the shopping district, if you tore up a whole store Aegis, Wayne thought.

It didn't take Wayne long to find Aegis once he got to the correct district, especially considering the fact that the store he'd fought in had a busted window and a couple of overturned shelves, which Aegis was currently trying to fix. "I thought you had an emergency," said Wayne as he entered the store. "I do," said Aegis as he picked up a few books from the floor and set them back on one of the shelves, likely in the wrong order, "It's the fact that I'm gonna beat down a few Atlas punks and I just might need a camera guy recording with his scroll." "That had better not be the reason you had me come all the way down here," said Wayne, his level of irritation rising. "Well I might need help fighting four people too," replied Aegis. "How in the world did you piss off four-," "There he is," Yelled a gruff voice. Wayne stopped speaking as he turned to see a group of four guys, one with blond hair, two with varying shades of light and dark brown hair, and one with purple hair of all things, all wearing gray Atlas school uniforms. "That bear Faunus prick." Said the purple-haired one. It was at this moment that Wayne noticed two of the members had a couple of bruises on their faces. "I'm guessing you threw the first punch," said Wayne. "They threw the first insult," said Aegis, "And you know I get cranky when I get hungry." "Yeah yeah," said Wayne as he and Aegis walked out of the shop, "All suffer when Aegis is hungry." The two teams approached each other, with Wayne walking slightly in front of Aegis to keep him from doing something else rash. "Ok I'm sure there's a good reason you're angry with my brother here," said Wayne, "But I'm asking you right now to stop and think about what're doing."

"Oh we've thought about it," said the blond one, "But since you've shown up too, you should think about where you stand in this fight." "And I think," said Aegis from behind, "That if ya'll don't want to lose any teeth, you'd best turn around right now." "Not helping," Wayne whispered back at Aegis. "Are all Faunus as brainless as you," said the blond one, "Because I count-," The apparent blond leader didn't have time to finish as Aegis rushed past Wayne and, before the leader could activate his aura, punched the leader full force in the face with a running right jab, knocking the leader onto the ground, and apparently out cold. Here we go again, Wayne thought as he rushed to Aegis's left side, blocking a punch from one of the brown-haired students and lashing out with a quick kick, which his opponent dodged. The other two pressed their attack on Aegis, forcing him to retreat from a flurry of punches and kicks. Wayne blocked an elbow strike from his opponent as he shifted around behind him and shoved him into the other two, temporarily knocking the purple-haired one off balance.

Aegis took the opportunity to kick his other attacker away as he and Wayne regrouped and pressed the attack. Here we are again, thought Wayne as he bobbed and weaved around punches and kicks thrown from several directions, switching spots with Aegis as the two brothers circled, fighting back to back, with Wayne eventually kicking the leg of one of the brown-haired students, then quickly moving as Aegis punched his now off-balance opponent in the face, knocking him to the ground. When the other two tried to charge, Wayne and Aegis both spun in opposite directions, each lashing out with a kick which sent their opponents flying backward. It was then the two brothers pressed their advantage as they assaulted the Atlas students with a series of quick punches to the midsections and faces of their opponents, mirroring each other with each strike. Once again, the two brothers spun in opposite directions, both using a spinning back kick to the heads of their opponents, causing their unfortunate opponent's heads to collide into each other as they crumpled to the ground. By this point, the other brown-haired student had gotten up and, unwisely, tried to charge both Wayne and Aegis. The two brothers responded by simultaneously punching the very unfortunate student in the face, knocking him unconscious as he hit the ground. They both took a moment to catch their breaths as Aegis wore a satisfied smile on his face. "Chalk up another group of punks," said Aegis, "I can't remember if we ever beat up anyone from Atlas."

"We shouldn't have had to beat up anyone Aegis," said Wayne as he noticed some of the students starting to stir. "Now even you had to admit those guys had it coming," said Aegis as he and Wayne started walking away from the scene of the fight. "No one had to have anything coming Aegis," replied Wayne, "What even happened to start that fight." "Oh you know," said Aegis, "I was sniffing around the book store when one of them bumped into me." "Did you demand he watch where he was going?" asked Wayne. "I wouldn't say I demanded," Replied Aegis, "It was more like a 'well pardon me,' sort of thing." "And then," asked Wayne. "Then he was all like 'Oh sorry I didn't mean to step on the store pet,' and I of course asked what that was supposed to mean, and it was about that time that the other guy said, 'Don't bother with that animal, it's not like he understands manners.'" Said Aegis. "And of course long story short," said Wayne, "You took it upon yourself, once again I might add, to inform them of the fact that you were a half-Faunus that you wouldn't be an animal even if you were a full Faunus, and that you had no reason to be ashamed of what you were born as, am I on the right track?"

"You left out the part where they made fun of our Mom and Dad," Aegis pointed out. "Oh they did did they?" Asked Wayne. "Obviously I was getting hungry at this point and you know I don't let anyone insult the family and get away with it." Said Aegis. "So instead of using some of the less physical, verbal insults you and I have heard or developed, you knocked him on his # ." Said Wayne. "That's about the long and short of it," replied Aegis. "Aegis we've been dealing with this kind of stuff for years," said Wayne, "You got to remember what Mom and Dad told us." "I know I know," said Aegis. "Violence isn't the only way to deal with ignorant people," Wayne quoted. "Yeah I just got to show them that I deserve as much respect as any other human being by being the best person I can be," finished Aegis. "And that means," Wayne asked. "It means not picking a fight every time someone makes fun of me for being a half-Faunus." Aegis said with a bit of a groan. "That's right," said Wayne, "Fortunately for the both of us, none of those guys had their weapons with them for whatever reason, but it's best that we make ourselves scarce, and besides, I got some news." "You sniff the wrong girl again?" asked Aeigs, with a smirk. "That was one time," said Wayne, "And no, this time I sniffed out the right girl." "Wait you mean," Aegis asked. "Yep," replied Wayne, "I found Blake."

Wayne explained the situation to Aegis as he listened, mostly silent through the whole explanation. "That sure does explain a lot," said Aegis, "I always thought she wore that bow because she was embarrassed of the cat ears." "I'd say it's a little more than embarrassment," said Wayne. "So do you think she'll talk to her team," asked Aegis. "That's hard to say," replied Wayne, "I've never been all too good at convincing a girl to do something, but she's at least thinking about it." "Well that's good news," said Aegis as he suddenly stopped at a corner, "I guess we should call it done for today, my bike is back this way." "Yeah and mine's over this way," said Wayne, "See you back at Beacon." With that, the two brothers again split up, both heading in the direction of their motorcycles. I really do hope this all works out ok, thought Wayne.

It took several minutes for Wayne to reach his motorcycle, but eventually he made his way to the white and silver-colored bike, still parked where he left it. He was about to get on when he noticed something on the wind, two familiar scents belonging to Weiss and Yang. Grabbing the handle bars on his bike and lifting up the kickstand, Wayne guided his bike to the other side of the short alley which lead to a district full of small shops. Wayne set the kick stand down as he sniffed the air again, trying to locate the white and yellow members of team RWBY. As it turned out he didn't have far to look as he suddenly heard a familiar voice. Wayne poked his head out of the alley in time to see Yang thanking one of the shop owners before exiting the shop. "This is hopeless," Yang said, a downcast look on her normally cheery face. "You really don't care if we find her do you," Yang asked Weiss, who had been quiet up to this point. "Don't be stupid, of course I do, I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her." Wayne quickly ducked his head back into the alley as the two girls approached. "The innocent never run Yang," said Weiss. "They might if they're scared," said Wayne as he leaned against the wall of the alley, startling the two girls. "And sometimes the guilty stay in plain sight in their ivory towers without a care in the world."

"Wayne," said Yang surprised, "What're you doing here?" "And what are you talking about," Weiss added. "I'm simply saying that life is more complicated than we think sometimes, as for why I'm here," said Wayne, "It's the same reason you're here, or at least it was." "You're looking for Blake too," asked Yang. "Well it was Aegis's idea, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about her," said Wayne, "By the way, would you mind explaining to me what you're so worried about her saying."

"What do you mean?" asked Weiss, as Wayne had directed the question towards her. "I kind of overheard the part where you were worried about what Blake will say once you find her," replied Wayne, "And before you try making up excuses I should tell you I already know Blake ran away because of you two arguing." "Actually, she ran away because she let it slip that she was a member of the White Fang." Said Weiss. "Hmm, I was under the impression that whole argument started because you were bad mouthing the Faunus?" said Wayne. "That's all the White Fang are," Replied Weiss, a little more hostility in her voice, "A bunch of crazed, lying, murderous Faunus, just like the rest of-," "You'd best watch how you end that sentence," said Wayne, his eyes narrowing slightly, "Or should I remind you that I do have Faunus lineage?" "Well you're different," said Weiss, "You're not all Faunus." "But my mother is, and a good portion of my mother's side of the family is," said Wayne, "Do you think they're a bunch of killers too?" "Well they're uuh," Weiss began to stutter so Wayne continued speaking, "If anything, the Faunus from my family and my town have proven more humane than a lot of human beings I've met," said Wayne.

"That's one town," replied Weiss, hostility rising in her voice again, "What about the rest of them, the ones that have been at war with my family, the ones that want all of humanity dead, do you have any idea what they're like!" Wayne huffed at that before raising up his left arm and pulling back the sleeve, revealing two nasty diagonal slash marks in between his wrist and elbow. "As a matter of fact," said Wayne, "I know exactly what they're like, and what they are, a disgrace to their own kind." "What do you-," Weiss's hostility giving way to slight confusion. "These scars, believe it or not, came from a Faunus, during the one and only academy tournament I ever entered." "Oh that's a tournament," said Weiss dismissively, "accidents like those-," "This was no accident!" Exclaimed Wayne, his own voice rising, "When I fought him in the tournament, I told him I was a half-Faunus at the beginning of the match, do you know what he called me, a mistake, an abomination, he believed even the very idea of a human and a Faunus loving each other was absurd," Wayne paused for a moment, he never really liked telling these types of memories to people. "Obviously I beat the arrogant prick, but sometime after the match he ambushed me outside of the arena when my aura was down, if I hadn't caught his scent in time, he would've killed me."

"What happened to the Faunus," asked Yang. "I didn't have time to draw my weapons so I reacted with my semblance, releasing an uncontrolled blast which nearly killed him." Wayne rolled his sleeve back down. "I withdrew from the tournament after that, but that's beside the point." "Alright," said Weiss, still sounding unconvinced, "So you do admit that the Faunus, at least some of them, are nothing more than animals?" "What I admit," said Wayne, getting more irritated, "Is that human and Faunus are both capable of horrific things and I'd like to point out that I agree with the White Fang's original goals, but I despise what they've allowed themselves to become." "Well since you know that Blake's a member of the White Fang now, what do you think she's going to say once we find her?" asked Weiss. "What she'll say is that she no longer wanted to be a part of the White Fang's violence, she'll say she's dedicated her life to becoming a huntress, she'll say she still believes Faunus should be granted equality, but most of all, she'll say she's no longer a member of the White Fang, that's what she told me when I asked." "Wait you found Blake," asked Yang, obviously surprised, "how?" "I got lucky and caught her scent," replied Wayne, "I overheard her talking to a monkey Faunus named Sun about her past before I asked her what she intended to do."

"So she's still in the city?" Asked Yang. "She's not leaving anytime soon," replied Wayne, "When I last saw her she was at a restaurant with a café on the roof." Wayne walked back over to where his bike was parked, "So if you want to find Blake, that's a good place to start looking." "Wait where are you going," asked Weiss as Wayne mounted his bike. "Well first, I'm gonna make sure my brother hasn't started anymore fights with students from other kingdoms, then I'm heading back to Beacon." Wayne removed his helmet from his belt and placed it on his head, closing the mouth guard. "But how are we supposed to find her, we don't have animal noses, need I remind you." Commented Weiss. "I already gave you a place to start looking," replied Wayne, "Besides, you probably need some time to think about a few things, namely that not all Faunus are bad and the fact that Blake left the White Fang because they became the violent extremists they are now." "But how's that gonna help-," Wayne didn't hear the last part of Weiss's sentence as he started up his bike. Once the engine settled down to a rumble, Wayne lifted up the kickstand, but turned to Weiss one last time. "One more thing to think about Weiss," said Wayne over the noise of his engine, "Ask yourself who really painted a target on the back of your family's company." Without waiting for any sort of reply, Wayne gunned the motor and sped away from the two huntresses in training. I hope she makes a good decision, thought Wayne.

 **And here we are at the end of another chapter and at a milestone for me at over 500 views. So I'd like to take this moment to just say thank you once again to my followers, reviewers, and those who just sat down and gave this story a chance, it's really encouraging. If you're all still enjoying the story, be sure to check back as we just might be about to wrap up volume 1 with a bang.**


	11. Beat down at the Docks: End of Vol 1

**Beat down at the Docks: The End of Volume 1**

The City of Vale: Shopping District

The shops and restaurants were barely more than a series of blurs as Wayne rode along to where his brother had parked his bike, only half-expecting him to be there. Any other day Wayne would've just drove straight there to see if his brother was still around. Today, however, Wayne took a slightly more round-about route so he could be alone with his thoughts a little longer. Why, Wayne thought to himself as a familiar anger came to the surface of his thoughts, why is it so hard for people to accept what's different? Wayne hated it when these kinds of thoughts emerged, because more often than not they brought the memories with them too, memories of people like the cat Faunus. Wayne glanced down at his left arm, looking at where the scars would be if his sleeve was rolled up.

He still remembered it so vividly, the sight of the cat Faunus descending on him, the pain as the blades slashed his left arm, and the anger when he lashed out in self-defense with an uncontrolled burst of his semblance from his right hand. The blast had sent the cat Faunus flying into a wall, breaking some of his would-be killer's bones. Afterwards, Wayne had withdrawn from the tournament upon learning of the Faunus's near-death condition, ashamed that he'd let his semblance get out of control. Even though his family and friends assured him he'd done nothing wrong, Wayne still believed to this day that he could've responded differently. That day had been one of the first times in a long while that Wayne had seen the return of the eyes he'd grown to hate, the eyes that showed how truly lonely he felt some days. Eyes like Weiss's, Wayne thought suddenly, the kind of eyes worn by a person whose anger stems from loneliness. But how lonely do you really feel Weiss, he thought, and more importantly, what would it take to make that feeling go away. Wayne let his thoughts drift for a moment more before he turned onto the street where his brother was parked. Whatever his personal issues or Weiss's issues, it didn't matter at the moment, all that mattered right now, Wayne thought, was finding Aegis and seeing if team RWBY would come back together again.

Wayne spotted Aegis's bike by a restaurant, not in the place he'd parked it before. Now what are you doing Aegis, Wayne thought as he parked next to Aegis's bike. Wayne quickly secured his bike and headed out in the direction of one of the restaurants, following his Aegis's scent like he'd had to do a hundred times before. This time his brother's scent led him into a small restaurant where Aegis was eating a rather large burger. "You know dinner back at Beacon is free, or at least cheaper," Wayne said as he sat down across from his brother. "You know I can't wait that long to eat when I get hungry," replied Aegis with his mouth full. "Well either way we should head back soon," said Wayne, "The suns about to set and you know Ms. Goodwitch doesn't like it when students wander around the campus after hours." "Oh relax," said Aegis, swallowing his food, "We'll get back in time." "Well you can keep eating I guess," said Wayne as the waitress walked up suddenly, "As for me-," "Uh yeah," said Aegis suddenly before Wayne finished speaking, "This guy would like your bacon cheeseburger with some Cream soda." "Right away," replied the waitress who left just as quickly as she had come.

"Oh wait you don't have to," Wayne tried to protest, "I was just stopping in." But it was too late, the waitress was already gone with the order. "Now what the heck Aegis," said Wayne, mildly annoyed. "What you can't tell me you're not hungry too," said Aegis, "And besides, don't you have something we need to discuss?" "Like what," asked Wayne. "Like how we're supposed to get team RWBY back together," Replied Aegis. "That was a problem I was hoping to save 'til later," said Wayne, "Because I have no idea what we're gonna do right now." "Well we can start by getting them all in one place," said Aegis. "And just how might we do that?" asked Wayne, genuinely curious what his brother had in mind. "Oh there's lots of ways," replied Aegis, "We could kidnap one of them and then call the others and tell them where they're at and boom, RWBY back together."

"Or we could not kidnap anyone," said Wayne as his food and drink arrived. Wayne quickly thanked the waitress before turning back to Aegis, "You got the right idea, we do need to get them all together." "Ok," said Aegis, "how's about we set up a scavenger hunt that has them all get to the same place at the same time?" "That could work," replied Wayne, "But then we'd have to find some way to convince them all to play, plus I'm not sure how good Ruby or Yang would be at a scavenger hunt." "Hmm," Aegis thought for a moment, "Ok, how about this." The two brothers ate their meals while they discussed what they could do, both coming up with multiple suggestions, but also finding some kind of problem with each one as their conversation carried on and on for over an hour. By this point, the sun had started to go down, so they both decided to keep discussing it when they got back to Beacon as they paid their bill and left the restaurant.

"This whole things a lot more complicated than I thought," said Aegis as they both made their way to their bikes. "Well it's like Mom and Dad always told us," said Wayne "Social problems are about as big as you make 'em, and Weiss and Blake have both made this thing kind of big." "Yeah I'm starting to think RWBY won't get back together with anything less than a disas-," Aegis was cut off as the sound of a distant explosion reached both of their ears. Looking in the direction of the noise, both brothers saw a cloud of black smoke rising near the section of the city where the docks were. "Now what," groaned Aegis as he mounted his motorcycle. "Don't know," replied Wayne as he mounted his own motorcycle and donned his helmet, "But I guess we're gonna find out." Without another word, the two brothers gunned their motors and sped towards the quickly dissipating cloud of smoke.

Beacon Docks: A Few Minutes Later

Several smaller explosions sounded as Wayne and Aegis got closer to the docks. What surprised Wayne and Aegis, however, was the sight of several bullhead airships flying around the docks. "What are those things doing here," yelled Aegis over the noise of their bikes. "I don't know but it can't be good," replied Wayne. "What's the plan then?" Aegis yelled back. "We take 'em down anyway we can!" replied Wayne. "I was hoping you'd say that!" Aegis yelled as they both sped up their bikes. At least three bullheads were in the air, all of them firing at something, or someone on the ground. "Ramp now!" Wayne yelled. "Got it," Aegis yelled back as he pulled out his weapon and spun the cylinder to earth dust. With a single swing, Aegis produced two small ramps made of earth and glass just big enough for their bike's wheels. Wayne pushed his motorcycle to the highest speed it would go as he rode up the temporary ramp, the wind rushing past him and his brother as they became airborne. Wayne pulled out his weapon, quickly shifting it to sickle form as he ran his semblance through it, while Aegis spun the cylinder on his weapon and produced a white shining ax blade. The two brothers slashed through the nearest bullhead's wings, sending it crashing to the ground with a thunderous thud.

One down, thought Wayne, only two to-. Wayne's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as multiple green beams of energy slashed through the other two bullheads, cutting them both down the middle and sending them crashing into the water next to the harbor. "What the heck," Wayne and Aegis exclaimed at the same time as they looked for the source of the green energy beams. "There," said Aegis as he spotted a familiar ginger-haired girl some distance away. That's the girl team RWBY was talking to yesterday, Wayne thought before his attention was diverted again. Several people, Faunus by the smell of them, started surrounding Wayne and Aegis, all of them wearing white and black outfits with hoods and Grimm masks, and what appeared to be a red lion or tiger symbol on the back of their outfits with red slash marks through it. "White Fang," yelled Wayne as he and Aegis leaped off their bikes, Wayne drawing his other weapon while Aegis produced another glass ax blade on his weapon. Wayne kicked his first opponent, a Faunus with an assault rifle, away then blocked the swords of another attacker before delivering a slash to their midsection, knocking them away.

Wayne continued to block, counter, and dance around his opponents, slashing or kicking away anyone close to him while Aegis barreled through his enemies, swinging his two-sided weapon over his head as he sent multiple enemies flying with the force of his blows. It was at this point that Wayne noticed one of the bullheads trying to escape with one of the shipping containers, until it was suddenly impaled on its side by several flying blades, all of which appeared to be linked to some sort of barely visible wire which was holding the bullhead in place. It's her again, Wayne thought, the ginger-haired girl was controlling the blades. "Watch my back for a second," Wayne yelled to Aegis. "You got it," replied Aegis as he leaped between Wayne and the other White Fang members and knocked several more away with another swing of his weapon. Wayne rushed over to where the bullhead was hovering, concentrating as best he could to focus his energy into his right weapon and then unleashing a blue slash attack which cut through the bullheads steering fins, allowing the ginger-haired girl to pull it down to the ground with a thunderous crash.

That solves that problem, thought Wayne as he turned to see the other White Fang members suddenly retreating. As Wayne scanned the area, he noticed a man in a white trench coat, wearing a black bowler hat, carrying a black and red cane hurrying towards a parked bullhead. Oh no you don't thought Wayne as he and Aegis rushed over to where the bullhead was taking off. By the time they got there, however, the bullhead had already ascended and sped away into the night, leaving Wayne and Aegis, as well as the ginger-haired girl to stare at the sky in frustration. "Aw # #," said Aegis, irritated, "We were that close." "Not close enough," said Wayne, "But right now we got other things to worry about." Wayne had picked up several familiar scents belonging to Blake, Sun, and surprisingly, Ruby. "Wayne, Aegis!" yelled a familiar voice as a red hooded figure rushed over with a shower of rose petals following her. Ruby nearly knocked Wayne over as she hugged him around the waist. "Where've you guys been, we haven't seen either of you all day." Exclaimed Ruby. "Well little red," said Wayne, groaning a little from the impact of Ruby's hug, "We were looking for her." Wayne pointed a thumb at the slowly approaching Blake, "But an explosion at the docks is hard to miss."

"Hey how come he gets a hug," said Aegis as he was walking over. "Oh right," said Ruby, speeding over to Aegis to give him a hug. "Ok now hug Blake," said Aegis, "She probably needs it." Ruby looked skeptical for a moment, before Aegis pushed her over to Blake who, after hesitating for a moment, gave Ruby a hug. "Where've you been Blake we've missed you," Ruby almost groaned. "I'm sorry," said Blake, "I just needed some time, and convincing." Blake looked over to Wayne for a second, who gave Blake a nod in return. "But I'm ready to face the rest of the team now," declared Blake. Ruby smiled and gave Blake another hug. "So are these your friends too?" Wayne almost jumped as the ginger-haired girl spoke. She could be surprisingly quiet when she wanted to be, Wayne thought, and her smell is. Wayne took a couple of discrete sniffs of the ginger-haired girl. What in the world, he thought, she smells like metal or something.

"Oh Penny," said Ruby, "This is Wayne and Aegis, they're friends from Beacon." "Nice to meet you," said Wayne as he stuck out his hand. "Salutations and it's nice to meet you too," replied Penny, a little too happily as she shook Wayne's hand, with a grip like a vice. Not as delicate as she looks, thought Wayne as she released his hand and shook Aegis's as well. "That's a good grip you got there," said Aegis. "I should think so," replied Penny, "I'm combat ready." She most definitely is, thought Wayne, and a little crazy too possibly. "So I guess we're all good then," said Sun, finally walking up. "Well mostly," Replied Wayne, "And I hate to bring this up right now, but there is still one problem that needs fixing." "Oh yeah," said Ruby, the enthusiasm going out of her. "This is gonna be a mess." Said Aegis as he sat down on an empty crate. "Well either way," said Blake, "I'm going to tell her the truth." "You may want to start with Ruby first," said Wayne as he leaned back against another crate, "If anyone deserves to know, it's your leader." Blake let out a sigh as everyone else took a seat or leaned against some sort of crate or container. "All right here goes," said Blake.

A Few Minutes Later

By the time Blake had finished telling her life story, the police had shown up and questioned each of them in turn about what had happened. Once they were done being questioned, the only thing they had to do then was sit around and wait as Ruby sent out a message on her scroll. Wayne was still leaning against a crate with his arms crossed while Aegis was sitting on another crate, ready to fall asleep from boredom. Everyone else was either sitting on a crate or standing when the two they'd been waiting for finally showed up. Wayne smelled them before he saw them and looked over with everyone else as Weiss and Yang approached. Wayne stood up straight as Ruby got up and tried to explain to Weiss that Blake actually had kitty ears, and that it wasn't what she thought, and a bit of other nonsense. Weiss, however, ignored Ruby and kept walking towards Blake. Wayne decided to step in her way for a moment, blocking her path. "Whatever you have to say," Weiss began, but stopped as Wayne raised his hand. Wayne studied the heiress for a moment, noting her demeanor before standing aside and letting her pass.

"Weiss," Blake began as the heiress stopped in front of her, "I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang, during my time I-," "Stop," Weiss said suddenly with a raised hand, "Do you know how long we've been looking for you?" Weiss paused for a moment before continuing, "Twelve hours that means I've had twelve hours to think about this and I've decided." Wayne almost held his breath as Weiss paused again, "That I don't care." "You don't," said Blake, obviously confused. "You said you're no longer a member right," said Weiss. "No I haven't been since I was younger-," Blake tried to explain. "Up pup u," Weiss silenced Blake again with another raised hand, "All I want to know is, the next time something this big comes up you'll come to your teammates first and not some," Weiss was looking towards Sun but paused as Wayne raised his eyebrow, "Someone else."

"Of course," replied Blake with a small smile. A moment passed before the silence was broken. "Yeah team RWBY is back together!" yelled Ruby as everyone else stood up. "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you two," said Weiss pointing to Sun and Aegis. "Hey I didn't do nothin'," exclaimed Aegis while Sun merely laughed nervously. "Hey wait a minute where's Penny?" said Ruby suddenly. Wayne and the others looked around, all of them paying too much attention to the scene unfolding in front of them to notice that Penny had slipped away, until Wayne noticed a black car pulling away. "Wherever she is," said Aegis, "I'm sure she can take care of herself." "I hope you're right," said Ruby worriedly. "In the meantime," said Wayne, "We should all get back to Beacon, I'm sure we need the rest right about now." Everyone agreed with that statement. "Anyone need a ride back," Aegis offered as he and Wayne mounted their bikes. "I think we'll be just fine for tonight," said Weiss, "The police have offered to give us a ride back." "Suit yourself," said Aegis as he and Wayne started their motorcycles, "I can guarantee this ride is more exciting than any police car."

With that Aegis sped away from the scene while Wayne remained a moment longer to don his helmet. "I'm glad ya'll worked this out," Wayne said, "It's not the same around Beacon when some friends are missing." Wayne smiled under his helmet as he gunned his engine and sped away into the night. As the cool wind whipped by Wayne, he couldn't help but think of how crazy the year had started, and how crazy it continued to be, all thanks to the crazy members of teams CFVY, JNPR, and RWBY, who so far had given him more trouble than even Aegis could on his best days, and who continued to make Wayne's life at Beacon anything but peaceful, and to be honest, he loved every moment of it. "You were right again Mom, Dad," Wayne said to himself, "Making friends is worth it, even if they are a bit crazy." Wayne continued to smile all the way back to the garage, and he could hardly keep himself from smirking on the airship ride back to Beacon, unable to contain how excited he'd become for the rest of the year. Wonder what else is gonna be thrown at us, thought Wayne, I can't wait.

End of Volume I

 **Hello everyone, sorry about the weirdness of this chapter but there was some sort of file formatting error. But if this thing is reading okay now, I'd like to say thank you to my reviewers, followers, and just my viewers in general for giving my story a chance. For everyone whose come to like this story, don't worry, team WA adventures will continue into volume 2. So stop in if you'd like to see team WA going undercover, fighting new foes, and dealing with the challenge that is "The DANCE!" 'Til next time.**


	12. The Art of the Food Fight

**The Art of the Food Fight**

Volume 2: Team WA's Second Semester

Life is funny, thought Wayne, it could be suspicious funny, ha ha funny, and sometimes just downright weird funny, if that was a thing. Well if weird funny wasn't a thing, his last semester at Beacon had definitely made it something, between classes, training, killing Grimm, and working out team and/or friend drama, Wayne Ursario's life had definitely become weird funny, not that that was a bad thing, even if it had been friend/team drama which had drug him and his brother, Aegis Ursario, into that fight at the docks with the White Fang and Roman Torchwick (Wayne had learned his name shortly after the fight).

Now here he was, a couple weeks later, sitting in the cafeteria across from team RWBY, enjoying what was turning out so far to be a fairly normal day, even dull compared to some other days. "So what are we gonna do," asked Aegis, suddenly as he sat back down next to Wayne with another tray of food. "What do you mean?" answered Wayne with his own question. "I mean the break is almost over, classes start tomorrow and we-," Aegis didn't finish his sentence as Wayne interrupted with a simple answer. "Wait for it," said Wayne, taking a bite of his own food. "Wait for what?" asked Aegis, before the sound of a very full binder hitting the table rang out. The one responsible for the noise was RWBY's leader, Ruby Rose, who was now explaining to Weiss, Blake, and Yang how she had compiled a number of activities, named best day ever activities according to the binder, for her and the rest of them.

Needless to say, Weiss was skeptical, Blake was fairly unsure, and Yang was excited, and catching random fruits in her mouth which Nora was flinging to her from another table over. Wayne had figured this might come up, especially since Ruby had been asking him, Aegis, and several other people what kind of activities would be fun for everyone the last several days. "Do you think she's got an activity in that binder for us too?" asked Aegis, nearly whispering to Wayne. "This is Ruby we're talking about," Wayne replied quietly, "She'll have something for everyone, not necessarily something one would normally do but something." Wayne heard the end of Ruby's explanation at that point, especially the part about how she wanted to start the second semester off with a bang. "Well I like to start my semesters off with a-," don't say it Yang, thought Wayne. "Yang," the blond member of team RWBY said. Wayne cringed inwardly at the horrible pun, and he wasn't the only one who thought it was bad as a 'boo' rang out from Nora at the other table, who had also thrown an apple which nailed Yang square in the face.

"She had that one coming," Aegis whispered to Wayne as Yang angrily tossed the apple back at Nora. Wayne decided to listen to the rest of Ruby's little explanation on how classes were about to start back up, the fact that more exchange students were arriving, and of course the tournament at the end of the year, which Wayne was not likely to be a part of, not because he didn't want to be but for more personal reasons. "I don't know," said Blake suddenly, "I think I might sit this one out." "Sit out or not," Weiss said to Blake, "I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team." Wayne hid a small smirk at Weiss's comment, thinking how the heiress's attitude had changed since the beginning of the year from bratty rich girl to a reliable teammate for team RWBY, and on some occasions she even acted like an actual friend to Wayne, though getting her and Aegis to agree on anything was still an issue. "I for one think- SPLAT," Weiss's speech was suddenly cut off. Wayne was taken aback at first, then had to stifle a laugh as a pie clearly meant for Yang had hit Weiss in the face. "Oh here we go," said Aegis as he and Wayne looked back to see Nora pointing at Lie Ren, whose hand was covering his face, while Pyrrha's was covering her mouth, to stifle a laugh or a gasp Wayne could only guess, and Jaune simply sat there staring dumbfounded. "Yes Aegis," Wayne finally said, "Here we go."

In no time at all the entire cafeteria became a scene of chaos as food was sent flying in all directions. Wayne managed to avoid most of it while Aegis was busy trying to catch as much food as he could. Well this is just great, thought Wayne, on the upside he was only wearing his brown school uniform, on the downside, he was still wearing his school uniform. As it turned out, that was the least of Wayne's worries, because pretty soon, the tables were being picked up and thrown by Nora, Yang and the other members of team RWBY and JNPR until a mountain of cafeteria tables sat on one side of the cafeteria with a laughing Nora standing at the very top. It was at this point everyone else in the cafeteria had decided they'd had enough and started rushing out the door, leaving only the members of teams RWBY, JNPR, and WA.

"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" Yelled Nora from the top of the large mountain of tables, while the other members of team JNPR stood below her. "Justice will be swift, justice will be painful," yelled Ruby, "It'll be delicious." Ruby finished by crushing a carton of milk in her hands while her teammates stood yelling behind her. "This ought to be good," said Aegis as he and Wayne sat to the side at one of the few tables which hadn't been overturned during the initial scuffle. "And just when I thought this would be another normal day," said Wayne. "Off with their heads!" Nora yelled as team JNPR began chucking several large watermelons through the air at team RWBY, which Yang blocked with a pair of turkeys she had donned on her hands, which she then threw, nailing Jaune in the face twice. Blake, after deflecting some of the other melons, engaged Pyrrha in a duel with long French bread sticks. Eventually Pyrrha was able to outfight Blake and sent her flying, while throwing more French bread at Blake and Yang. "Oh mine," yelled Aegis as he leaped from the table, trying desperately to grab the breadsticks flying through the air, but his efforts were in vain as they were all deflected or broken by Yang, until one knocked her back. Not ready to give up, Aegis tried reaching for some food on the table, which was quickly knocked off as Ruby went skating by on a food tray. "Oh come on," said Aegis in frustration.

"I'd just wait 'til they're done Aegis," said Wayne, moving his head in time to avoid some of the food flying off the table, "Just reach for the stuff closest to, oh son of a-," Wayne had been reaching for a bottle of ketchup, which had been suddenly snatched up by Weiss who used it to create a layer of catch up on the floor, causing Lie Ren to slip and crash into another mound of tables, plates, and food, sending even more food and debris into the air. "Or we could both try a little harder, oh for the love of-," Aegis said in aggravation as the swordfish on the floor he was reaching for was also snatched up by Weiss, who used it like her rapier against Nora, who had made a hammer out of a flag pole stuck into a watermelon. Nora, after a few skillful swings, was able to knock Weiss all the way across the cafeteria into one of the columns, causing it to collapse. Ruby leapt over and caught Weiss's limp body. "Weiss don't leave me, NOOOOOO!" Ruby yelled in an overly dramatic, and fake, tone of anguish as the column finished collapsing to the floor. "This is getting out of hand," said Wayne as he moved over on the table to avoid more flying rubble.

"I just want them to stop throwing the food all over the place," said Aegis as he reached for the discarded turkeys on the floor, which were suddenly swept off the floor by Yang as she placed them on her fists once again, charging team JNPR. "It is kind of annoying isn't it," replied Wayne as he reached for some vegetable stalks, which were grabbed by Lie Ren as he met Yang in, well combat he guessed, before he was quickly overpowered and sent flying by Yang. Nora then leaped into the fray, battling Yang with her watermelon hammer until she got a decisive hit, sending Yang flying through the ceiling. "Ok, it's definitely out of hand now," Said Wayne as Aegis yelled an obscenity at getting a string of hotdogs pulled away from him by Blake who used them as a whip to knock Nora back into the pile of tables and vending machines. Nora responded by pelting some of the spilled soda cans from the machine at Blake, who flipped and dodged around the exploding clouds of soda. Pyrrha, noticing the scattered cans of soda, used her semblance to control all of the cans and sent a torrent of sodas at Blake, eventually sending her flying to the other side of the cafeteria. Well that was quite a trick, Wayne thought as he caught one of the cans and opened it, fortunate to have caught one which wasn't too fizzy. But as he was about to take a drink, Wayne noticed Ruby getting into a starting position for running.

"Oh # #," he said out loud as he ducked under the table. The red-hooded leader of team RWBY used her semblance and sped across the cafeteria, creating a massive wind which drug all the food and plates behind it. Wayne gripped the table above him and dug his hand into the ground, using his semblance to make a place to grip. Wayne held on as the massive wind swept past him, lifting the table and him off the ground. Wayne held onto the floor for dear life, barely catching a glimpse of Aegis flying by as Ruby spiraled forward, causing the wind to turn into a charging cyclone, sweeping up all the members of team JNPR, pulling them along with all the other food. Ruby stopped barely three feet from the wall, the force of the speed she was traveling causing a crater to form in the wall as the members of team JNPR were slammed into the wall, then pelted by food continuously until the wind finally ceased. The table had torn out of Wayne's grasp, but he'd managed to hold on, which was more than he could say for team JNPR, who were covered in a rainbow of colors, created by all the food which had been pelting them. As for Aegis, he was trapped under a mountain of tables. "A little help here," Aegis said from under the tables. Wayne wrenched his hand out of the floor, intending to help Aegis until he heard the cafeteria doors fling open. Turning to the sound, Wayne froze in terror as Ms. Goodwitch marched into the cafeteria with a look on her face that could have made the mightiest of grim turn tail and run. With a wave of the crop in her hand, Ms. Goodwitch caused all of the tables, plates, and food to fly into the air, resetting everything in the cafeteria back into its proper place, making it look almost as if the vicious food fight had never occurred, save for the fact that everyone was covered in food.

"Please children, don't play with your food," Said Ms. Goodwitch, adjusting her glasses. Well that could've been worse, thought Wayne, standing by team RWBY as Nora belched loudly, but I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something. Wayne's thoughts were answered as a body landed on him, knocking him into a table which was shattered by the combined force of him and the girl who'd fallen on him. Oh yeah, Wayne thought as he groaned in pain, Yang was still in the air, 'was' being the key word. "Thanks for breaking my fall," said Yang, an embarrassed smile on her face. "Suuuuure," Wayne groaned, "Just don't drop in unannounced next time, my back doesn't do so well with surprise visits." Whether or not it was funny, Wayne didn't know, but everyone was laughing hysterically as Yang removed herself from his back and helped him off the floor. Wayne glanced over to see Ozpin talking to Goodwitch, who sighed and turned away from the three teams, apparently deciding to let them be for now. "Ha ha that was great," yelled a food covered Aegis, finally walking over, eating the swordfish Weiss had grabbed earlier, "The last time I saw a cafeteria torn up like that was when me and Wayne honey bombed a couple of bullies in the lunch line at Signal and the whole thing turned into a food fight free for all."

"Oh don't remind me," said Yang, remembering the disaster the cafeteria had been after that, "It took me all week to get the smell of chili out of my coat." "Yeah, the carnivore Faunus loved it though I hear," laughed Aegis. "Was there a school disaster at Signal you two didn't cause," asked Weiss. "Well we had nothin' to do with that explosion one day during dust study class," said Wayne, "That was some little freshman girl who mixed too much fire dust and sneezed when it-," Wayne paused for a moment when he noticed Ruby suddenly shifting nervously. "You didn't," Wayne said too Ruby, who blushed with embarrassment. "Oh my gosh that's great," laughed Aegis, "You were blowing up stuff on your first day at Signal too?" "It was an accident," said Ruby, "some of the dust floated up to my nose and-," "Boom," Wayne and Aegis both said as they joined in laughing with the others. "Oh come on guys it was embarrassing," Whined Ruby. "No it's fine Ruby," said Wayne, putting his arm around the little girl's shoulders, "I'm just happy to know that me and Aegis weren't the only ones causing trouble at our old schools." The rest of the conversation was lost in uncontrolled fits of laughter.

 **Here we are at the start of Volume 2 for team WA. I know this chapter is a bit short but I thought it best to start off a little slow with a new volume, especially considering next chapter includes the introduction of some more well-known characters and the beginning of team combat in Miss Goodwitch's class, with team WA being the first to fight. I hope everyone will enjoy this volume as much as the last one and I'd like to once again say thanks to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers. 'Til next time.**


	13. Team Meetings, and Battles

**Team Meetings, and Battles**

Professor Port's Class: The Next Day

Yesterday really had been one of the best days of the whole break, thought Wayne, as compared to today which seemed to drag on and on with Professor Port telling another one of his many stories. The class wasn't dragging so much because of Professor Port's story, but more due to the apprehension Wayne had been feeling at a not so fun idea Aegis had come up with earlier in the morning. Soon enough, though, the class bell rang and Wayne filed out of the class with everyone else. "Ok so you remember what to do right," said Aegis, coming into step next to Wayne. "I really wish I didn't," replied Wayne, somberly, "You're idea is basically to get the snot beat out of us." "Oh come on it's not that bad," said Aegis as they headed to the locker room to change into their combat outfits, "I'm telling you we can take 'em, and you said so yourself you'd help 'em if they needed it."

"That I did," replied Wayne. "Besides, I won the coin toss two out of three times," Said Aegis with a smug grin. Wayne simply sighed, knowing there was no arguing with Aegis when he got like this, and Wayne had agreed that he'd do it if Aegis won the coin toss. As soon as they were done putting their combat outfits back on, they headed for Goodwitch's class, with Aegis excited while Wayne was still full of apprehension. Like always, they made it to the class early and waited for the rest of the students, then Goodwitch, to file into the classroom. "Now class," Goodwitch began, "Today will be a little different, as some of you may have heard we will be starting team combat for this class today, so are there any volunteers?" Aegis's hand shot up immediately, "Oh we will we will," he said excitedly. "Yeah I guess we will," Wayne added halfheartedly as he also raised his hand. "Very well, now let's find you an opposing team," Said Goodwitch.

"Team RWBY," said Aegis. "Very well, does team RWBY accept?" asked Goodwitch. "Heck yeah," yelled Yang, apparently speaking for the rest of the team. "I still think this is a horrible idea," Wayne whispered to Aegis as they made their way to the arena. "You two can still back out now and save yourselves some embarrassment," said Yang confidently. "Heh, I seem to recall that none of ya'll have been able to beat either of us individually so far," Replied Aegis with a smirk. You're gonna get us killed one day Aegis, thought Wayne. Although it was true that none of the members of team RWBY had been able to beat Wayne or Aegis in a one on one fight so far, those matches had been anything but easy, and now Aegis wanted just the two of them to fight the whole team.

The two teams readied their weapons as the timer counted down, signaling the match to start. Yang opened fire, sending blast after explosive blast hurtling towards the brothers. Aegis swiftly formed two ax blades on each side of his weapon, spinning it to block the incoming fire while Wayne leaped to the right side, firing both of his weapons at Ruby and Weiss. The two girls leapt out of the way, dodging and deflecting the barrage of dust bullets. Aegis was holding his own against Yang's flurry of shots, that is until Blake dropped down behind him, forcing him to spin around and block her two weapons at the last second, but leaving his back unprotected as Yang fired another volley. Wayne switched his weapons to sickle mode as he moved behind Aegis, slashing through the next couple of shots before shifting his left weapon back to SMG mode and returning fire at Yang, forcing her to leap out of the way. "Lady Bug," said Ruby, leaping forward swinging her large red scythe. "Switch," said Wayne quickly as he and Aegis changed positions. Wayne managed to block Blake, while Aegis stopped Ruby's slash with his weapon. The two girls leapt past them and tried attacking again, only to be met by the same result as Wayne and Aegis shifted position a few more times, blocking each attack from Ruby and Blake.

"Checkmate," shouted Ruby as she jumped upwards while Weiss charged in with Blake, this time both attacking from the front. Aegis moved to block Blake while Wayne kept Weiss off of him, which wasn't easy considering Weiss was a lot more focused than the first time they fought and trying to take out Aegis instead of Wayne. "Cross slash," said Wayne as he managed to force Weiss back. Aegis spun the cylinder on his weapon, producing a flaming blade which he aimed at Weiss, while Wayne jumped over the flaming blade and sent out an energy slash with his semblance at Blake. Aegis succeeded in knocking Weiss back, but Wayne only hit Blake's shadow as she leaped backwards out of the way. Suddenly, a yellow flash of energy hit Blake, causing her to glow as a glyph appeared under her. Weiss, thought Wayne, she threw the glyph when Aegis knocked her away. Using the energy surrounding her, Blake sent out a purple slash of energy, which Wayne blocked with one of his signature blue energy slashes. Blake sent out several more, faster and faster until several energy slashes were heading towards Wayne and Aegis. Wayne kept sending out energy slash after energy slash, blocking each and every strike until the yellow glow around Blake finally faded. Wayne's breathing quickened at the repeated use of his semblance, but he was far from done. "Bumblebee," yelled Ruby again as Blake converted her weapon into its roped blade form and tossed it back.

Yang caught the weapon and launched herself into the air as Blake swung her teammate around in an arc toward Wayne and Aegis. They both ducked the first strike as Yang sailed over their heads, missing by only a foot. Aegis was waiting for another pass while Wayne noticed Weiss forming a glyph around the top or Ruby's scythe. "She's pointing that thing at us," said Wayne. "I see it," said Aegis, spinning his dust cylinder again. This time, Aegis produced a glowing white blade as Ruby fired what appeared to be a bullet infused with ice dust. Aegis blocked the first couple of shots until Yang came flying towards them again, swinging her fist in time with one of the ice flower shots, as Wayne guessed they were called. The impact of both attacks sent Aegis tumbling backwards, forcing Wayne to jump in front of Aegis to block another shot. Wayne was able to block the first few, but once again Yang came swinging around, fortunately Aegis was ready this time and blocked the attack with his weapon, knocking Yang away while Wayne continued to block more ice flower shots. Aegis leapt away towards Yang and Blake, trying to take on the two girls at the same time while Wayne jumped over the next volley of ice flower shots and landed next to Ruby and Weiss, slashing with his Crescent Fangs. The two girls blocked and dodged around Wayne's strikes, counter attacking when they could, but having no better luck hitting Wayne than Wayne was trying to hit them. It was definitely difficult, Wayne was forced to mainly attack Weiss to keep her on the defensive while dodging around Ruby's large scythe.

"Sunflower," Ruby suddenly said as she jumped away, while Blake turned around and charged at Wayne, forcing him to turn his attention away from Weiss a little to block Blake's less ferocious, but more skillful strikes, allowing his other opponent to form a glyph underneath herself which had turning clock gears. Blake suddenly flipped over Wayne's head as several glyphs formed in the air, surrounding Wayne, while Blake landed on the glyph next to Weiss. Oh crap, thought Wayne as he channeled his semblance as quickly as he could into his weapons. The two girls catapulted away from the glyph with more speed than Wayne had ever seen them use as they both landed on two of the glyphs floating in the air. Wayne tried blocking the incoming attacks, but his opponents bounced from one glyph to another at incredible speed, slashing at Wayne. One strike, then another, and another got through Wayne's defenses until he was finally sent flying backwards by a combined slash attack from the two girls. Wayne landed hard on the floor and rolled for several feet before finally stopping. That hurt, Wayne groaned inwardly, as he struggled to rise to his feet. Aegis wasn't fairing much better as Yang's ferocity and Ruby's ranged and close quarter attacks kept him on his toes, and both girls had learned most of the tricks of his weapon's dust cylinder, meaning they were usually able to dodge around his attacks when he was actually able to spin the cylinder. Wayne didn't have long to observe this, however, as Weiss and Blake resumed their attack. Wayne was holding his own, but so long as they kept him and Aegis separated and continued attacking relentlessly, team WA couldn't do much more than defend, and what was worse, Wayne was pretty sure he just saw Yang power up with her damage absorbing semblance. Just as he saw this, Weiss spun the cylinder in her rapier and charged at Wayne with red energy radiating from her blade.

Wayne managed to build up enough energy in his weapons to block her attack with his semblance, causing a small blast forcing both him and Weiss stumbling backwards. Aegis bumped into Wayne as he stumbled backwards as well. "So how's your fight going," asked Aegis between breaths. "Oh you know," said Wayne, "Fighting angry girls." "All together now," said Ruby as she and the other girls readied their weapons. "Ah ## ," both brothers said as they readied their own weapons. Team RWBY let out a volley of projectile attacks which Wayne and Aegis were barely able to block with their semblances. The barrage continued until one of Yang and Ruby's shots hit low, knocking the two brothers off balance as the barrage continued, eventually sending both of them to the ground. Before either of them could rise, team RWBY was standing over them, breathing harder than Wayne had expected they would be, but still holding their weapons at the ready. "Still think this was a good idea," Asked Wayne sarcastically. "Do you two give up," Yang said between ragged breaths. "I think we'll call that a match," said Ms. Goodwitch suddenly, "All of your auras are fairly low and team WA is in the red." "Well that's that I guess," said Wayne as Blake and Yang helped the two brothers up. "I got to say, you two put up a pretty good fight," said Ruby happily.

"Thanks, ya'll too," replied Aegis, rubbing his head, "Though I didn't ya'll to quite hit so hard." "I did," said Wayne, holding his side, "Why do you think I said this was a bad idea." "Oh cheer up," said Yang, playfully punching Wayne in the arm, which only made him hurt more, "I thought it was fun." They joked around a little more as they headed back to their seats to watch the rest of the matches. "You know we still might've won," said Aegis as they made their way out of the classroom. "I told you Aegis, I'm not using my semblance at full power," replied Wayne sternly. "You wouldn't have needed to use it at full power, just a lot more power than you were using, especially since I wasn't holding back as much as you were." "You were tearing up the floor with what you were using, you call that holding back," said Wayne. "Oh come on they can fix it, and you could break a few walls without too many complaints," Said Aegis. "I told you it's not the walls I'm worried about," Replied Wayne. "Oh come on Wayne," Said Aegis, "You should have plenty of control by now, I doubt you'd actually hurt anyone, permanently anyway." "Let's just go," said Wayne, "Everyone else wanted to head to the library after class."

Beacon Library: A Few Minutes Later

Unsurprisingly, Pyrrha, Weiss, Blake, and Lie Ren had made it there first, or at least almost the same time as Wayne and Aegis, with the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR arriving more or less later than the time they had asked everyone else to meet. Wayne and Aegis simply slumped down into the nearest chair, still exhausted from their fight with team RWBY, while Ruby excitedly pulled out a board game and set it up for the rest of her team. The members of team JNPR sat down at another table and began reading various books, with the exception of Nora, who shortly fell asleep. Wayne and Aegis had both pulled out their own books, Wayne was reading a dramatic adventure (Blake had insisted it was good), while Aegis pulled out a magazine with articles about dust-dispensing weapons. I guess we could all use some peace and quiet for a bit, thought Wayne as he turned to the next page in the story. "Yang Xiao Long prepare your kingdom for battle," exclaimed Ruby suddenly. Well it was a fun minute and a half of silence while it lasted, thought Wayne as Ruby and Yang continued trading verbal blows as they played through their board game. Eventually, Yang won their little match up, leaving Ruby depressed at the state of her little army as she had her head down on the table in defeat. This would be entertaining if I wasn't trying to read, thought Wayne, concentrating as hard as he could on the words in his book. His concentration didn't last long, however, as the sound of one of the girls cackling maniacally drew his attention away from the book. Now why is Yang, but Wayne stopped when he realized it was Weiss laughing and carrying on about the might of her forces.

Now she's taking this board game way too seriously, thought Wayne, until Yang held up a card and cleaned the board of Weiss's armies, declaring them all destroyed. A disheartened Weiss sank back into her chair, declaring her hatred and sadness at the game of emotions they played. Ruby quickly hugged Weiss, declaring they would make it through together, to which Weiss told her not to touch her, while she was hugging Ruby back of course. Now that was entertaining, thought Wayne with a small smirk as he looked back at his book. Wayne didn't pay a whole lot of attention to anything else other than his book after that, though he was sure he heard Jaune try, unsuccessfully, to play Weiss's hand for her, then got silenced by Pyrrha for nearly blabbing Blake's secret about being a Faunus. "Sup Losers," a familiar voice suddenly said. It was Sun talking to team RWBY, with another friend of his in tow, a guy with blue wavy hair, goggles, a red coat and tie, jeans with some sort of black padding attached to them and fingerless gloves, and to top it all off, a weapon on his back which looked like it converted to some sort of odd assault rifle.

"I never got the chance to introduce you to my old pal Neptune," Said Sun, still talking to team RWBY. "Uh, aren't libraries for reading," Questioned Neptune. "Thank you!" Wayne and Lie Ren said at the same time. "Pancakes," exclaimed Nora, suddenly waking up. "Oh don't be a nerd," said Sun. "Ah gu gu, intellectual," replied Neptune hastily. Well this ought to be good, thought Wayne as he tried once again to get back to reading while Neptune introduced himself to Weiss, in a fairly flirtatious manner. Wayne's reading didn't last long, however, as he noticed Blake get up and walk out of the library, obviously done playing whatever board game it was that Ruby had brought "Women," he heard Nora say. Yes indeed, thought Wayne jokingly, women. "Ok so I know you guy's names," said Neptune to team RWBY as he sat down in Blake's spot to play the board game, "But what about the rest of you guys?" Wayne listened fairly absent-mindedly as each member of team JNPR either introduced themselves, or were introduced by Ruby. "And these two guys make up team WA," Ruby continued, "That's Wayne and that's Aegis." "Howdy," said Wayne without looking up from his book. "Wait it's just the two of you guys on a team," asked Neptune. "Yep," Replied Wayne simply as he flipped to the next page. "You guys must take your training as seriously as your reading," Said Neptune.

"I read when I can, Aegis is just sleeping," Said Wayne, pointing a hand towards Aegis, whose eyes were open and appeared to be glued to the magazine. "Are you sure he isn't just-," a loud snoring sound suddenly came from Aegis, cutting Sun off. "I don't know how," said Wayne, "But he can fall asleep without closing his eyes." "That's, kind of odd," said Neptune shakily. "Tell me about it," replied Wayne, "Gave me the creeps the first couple of times he did it, I thought he was dead one time." "Oh enough talk," said Yang suddenly, "We still have a game to finish." While I still have a book to read, thought Wayne as he went back to reading, trying his very best to ignore the noisy comments made by Ruby and Yang. After several more minutes, Yang finally lost to Neptune and left in a huff, with Ruby and Weiss in tow as they followed her out of the library. Well so much for quality time in the library, thought Wayne as he glanced up from his book for a second, intending to go right back to reading until he noticed that Ruby had left her board game. Well may as well head back to the dorm, Wayne thought as he nudged his brother, "Yo Aegis, time to get up." His brother snorted before looking up sleepily. "I don't wanna," Aegis said groggily. "Well you're gonna have to," replied Wayne, "Ruby forgot her board game and I believe it's your turn to help them out." "What, but I helped them last week," groaned Aegis. "Yeah then I helped them a couple days ago when they needed to buy parts for Yang's bike, which took all day I might add."

"Alright alright, just give me a minute," Said Aegis. "Well no hurry, but I'm heading back," said Wayne as he got up, stowed the book and headed out of the library. Knowing Ruby, she wouldn't remember she left her board game in the library for at least several minutes, if at all. Well may as well let her know on the way to the dorm, thought Wayne as he made his way down the hallway, stopping at the door to team RWBY's room. Wayne was about to knock until he heard them talking on the other side of the door. "Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it." Wayne's hand stopped, hovering over the door at the sound of Blake's voice on the other side of the door. "Ozpin told us not to worry, between the police and the huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it," Replied Yang. "Well I'm not," argued Blake, "They don't know the White Fang like I do." A moment of silence passed before another voice, Weiss's, spoke. "Ok, between blowing up night clubs, stopping robberies and fighting for freedom I'm sure you all think we're ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er do wells," Said Weiss, "But let me once again be the voice of reason, we're students, we're not ready to handle this sort of situation." Ruby attempted to protest but was cut off by Weiss. "We're not ready," Weiss insisted.

"And we may never be ready!" exclaimed Blake, "Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait for graduation, they're out there planning their next move and none of us know what it is but it's coming, whether we're ready or not." After another moment of silence, Ruby raised her voice. "Ok, all in favor of becoming the youngest hunter/sister to take down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale, say ai." One by one the girls all agreed, none of them saying ai, much to Ruby's disappointment. "Alright then," said Blake, "We're in this together." "Let's hatch a plan," said Ruby excitedly, with Yang happily agreeing. Suddenly Wayne heard Ruby gasp on the other side of the door. "I left my board game in the library," said Ruby.

Ah nuts, thought Wayne as he quickly moved away from the door and headed towards his dorm room. Not a moment later team RWBY's door flung open as the red-hooded girl sped down the hallway, only to bump into three strangers not too far from the door. Wayne could've kicked himself for not noticing the trio earlier, being too focused on the conversation in team RWBY's dorm. The trio included two girls and one guy. The guy, who was taller than either of the girls, was wearing a black school uniform, and he had a fairly white complexion with a head of silvery hair. The first girl, who was the shortest of the three, was rather different from her other two companions having very tanned skin with short green hair that came down around her ears, save for two relatively long strands of hair which ran down below her shoulders on her front side, and dark red eyes. The second girl, and most mysterious seeming one to Wayne, had long black hair that came down over her left shoulder and yellowish-orange eyes that Wayne could swear he saw glow every so often. Both girls wore similar uniforms to the boy, except they had a skirt instead of black pants. Wayne didn't hear much of their conversation as the dark-skinned girl helped Ruby off the floor, although he did manage to catch the last part about them visiting from Haven.

By this point, Wayne had reached his room and was casually pulling out his scroll to unlock the door, at first paying no mind to the fact that the three strangers were walking by him, that was until he caught the scent of dust on them, and not just one type of dust, several types, and even worse, Wayne caught the faint scent of what smelled like blood. Wayne couldn't help but turn around and sniff the backside of the nearest stranger, the dark-skinned girl. "Can I help you," the girl asked, turning around with a slightly annoyed expression. "Sorry, lots of Faunus where I come from so I often forget sniffing someone is a little odd in other places," said Wayne, "You said you three were visiting from Haven right?" asked Wayne as he pulled his head back. "Yeah what of it," replied the silver-haired boy. "I was wondering," continued Wayne, "What are dust prices like over there right now?"

"Quite fair, why do you ask?" replied the mysterious dark-haired girl. "I just happened to notice that you three smell like all kinds of dust," replied Wayne, "Just a word of warning, the dust prices here have gone through the roof recently, so if you got some heavy dust weapons, best use them more sparingly here." "Thanks for the heads up," said the tan-skinned girl as she and the other strangers began walking away, "We'll keep it in mind." Without another word, Wayne turned back to his room and, after unlocking the door, went in. Like always, Wayne hung his coat on its usual hook and sat down on his bed. He knew it was earlier than normal, but Wayne pulled out his weapons and began checking them. A short time passed before Aegis walked in, obviously well rested from his nap in the library.

"Well I don't know about you Wayne but I am feeling great." Said Aegis happily. "You might want to wait before making that statement official," replied Wayne. "Why, something wrong," asked Aegis. The RWBY girls are not gonna like me doing this, thought Wayne with a sigh, but I can't stand by either. "Team RWBY's getting themselves into big trouble again," Said Wayne. He explained everything he'd overheard at RWBY's dorm room to Aegis, whose expression turned from happiness, to one of concern. "Ok, so they're getting into trouble again," said Aegis, "What exactly do you want to do about it?" "Well we're gonna help them of course," replied Wayne, "But we're gonna have to be discrete because if I know them, they're not gonna want their other friends involved." "Discrete, right," said Aegis, "I suppose you got a plan then." "Well team RWBY's plan is to investigate," said Wayne, "So our plan is to keep an eye on them when they do investigate." Aegis rubbed his chin in contemplation for a moment before asking, "Do you think they're gonna get in a fight and make a big mess again?" "Abso- # ## -lutely," said Wayne. "Well then," said Aegis, "I guess we get to go on another unofficial support mission again."

 **Hello everyone, sorry for the late update, but I should be back on schedule this Friday. As always, I'd like to say thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've read and continue to read my story, it really helps my writing. If you like the story so far, come back again when team WA gets new outfits and goes undercover to investigate the White Fang, and runs into a few unexpected surprises. 'Til next time.**


	14. Team WA Undercover

**Team WA undercover**

Wayne tried his best to pay attention to Professor Oobleck, tried, but even he was finding it difficult to keep his mind on the class when his thoughts kept drifting to his friends, especially team RWBY and what they had planned for tonight. Soon enough, fortunately, the bell rang and the class was dismissed. Wayne and Aegis exited the class quickly, moving as fast as they could back to their dorms without drawing any unwanted attention. "So you remember what to do," said Wayne as he donned his new outfit. "Keep one eye on them and keep the other eye out for trouble," Replied Aegis as he slipped on street clothes. "And you remember where they're going and how you're supposed to follow them right?" Asked Wayne.

"I remember," replied Aegis, "I'm going to follow Blake to the White Fang meeting, because I have more Faunus features and will draw less attention, while you're gonna follow Yang to the shady side of town." "Right, and the most important part of this little mission?" asked Wayne as he holstered his weapons. "The most important part is that we're to stay out of sight and not let anyone on team RWBY know we're following them," Replied Aegis, "Mostly because you want to respect their wishes about not involving friends, but you're also way too worried about them to just let them do this on their own." "Bingo," said Wayne as he pulled out the last two pieces of their outfits. Wayne knew that they'd be recognized immediately if they wore their signature outfits, so Wayne and Aegis had pulled out some newer clothes they'd picked up in the city a little while back and added a few modifications to them to make them, hopefully, effective disguises. Wayne's outfit was a much more grayish white coat with no fur trimmings on it and a wolf symbol instead of a bear symbol on the back. Wayne's inner clothing consisted of a dark blue shirt and black pants and boots (again with claw designs on them), a more stylized belt with a wolf symbol for the belt buckle. Wayne's outfit also had black gloves with wolf claw designs on the back of them and a pull up blue face mask that covered Wayne's nose and mouth. Aegis wore much more simplistic street clothes, which differed greatly from his usual battle attire, with far fewer pieces of armor.

"What's with these," asked Aegis as he accepted the white Grimm mask Wayne handed to him. The masks had a bird-like look to them with four eyes on the front and it covered their eyes and noses. "I got these Grimm masks from a local shop, they should keep us from being recognized, and of course, get you into the White Fang meeting," said Wayne as he slipped the mask onto his face, "Since we've got so many transfer students coming in from all over, no one will think it too odd that a couple of guys wearing masks are walking around Beacon or the city, but if someone does stop us, remember, we're visiting from Atlas for the festival." "Yeah yeah," said Aegis as he slipped his mask into his pocket, "I got it." "Good," said Wayne as he opened the door, "Because you and I are about to put everything we've ever learned about tracking people to use."

Wayne and Aegis made their way down the dorm hallway, stopping by team RWBY's door long enough to hear them going over their plan one more time. The two brothers had been taking turns eavesdropping on team RWBY ever since Wayne had overheard their declaration to investigate Torchwick and the White Fang, so they were familiar with their plan. What Wayne and Aegis didn't expect, however, was to hear the voicesw of Sun and Neptune on the other side of the door. "Well nuts," Aegis whispered, "Now what?" Wayne thought for a moment as he listened to team RWBY hesitantly agree to allow Sun and Neptune to come along. "Now we go," Wayne whispered back as he started down the hall with Aegis following close behind, "Nothing's changed, we still keep an eye on them from a distance and jump in if things get too hairy." "Works for me," said Aegis as they made their way down the stairs and out into the courtyard. The next part wasn't so simple, as team WA had to wait for Blake, Yang, Sun, and Neptune to show up at the air platform and then get on the same airship right before them, hopefully without being seen. Wayne wasn't worried near as much about Ruby and Weiss as they were just making a call at the transit tower to look through some data from the Schnee Dust Company archives.

After boarding the airship, Wayne and Aegis took separate seats in order to take turns watching their friends, with Wayne glancing up from a book every so often while Aegis made it look like he was looking out the window, only glancing over when no one was looking in his direction. Wayne found the ride surprisingly nerve-racking, not because he was afraid of being found out by his friends, but because he was worried that his friends might be biting off a bit more than they could chew. No point in worrying yet, thought Wayne, just focus on your cover and keeping your friends in view, we'll deal with any trouble if it comes up.

A Few Minutes Later: The City of Vale

The flight was, fortunately, uneventful as the airship touched down in the city of Vale. Aegis rejoined Wayne as they headed away from the airstrip and towards the storage area where their motorcycles were. Thanks to a couple of misadventures in the city, Wayne knew exactly where the shady side of town was and that Yang would need her bike to reach it quickly. The two brothers mounted their bikes and rode out of the storage area at almost the exact time that Yang, Blake and the others arrived. Wayne and Aegis quickly pulled into an alley out of sight of the others, but still within sight of the storage area. "This is the part where we split up," said Aegis as he grudgingly donned the helmet he normally reserved for passengers. A moment later, Yang, with Neptune as her passenger, went racing by on her yellow motorcycle and, after a brief moment to get his bike started, Wayne followed after her at a safe distance while Aegis picked a random route which would, hopefully, still keep him in sight of Blake and Sun but far enough away that they wouldn't notice him. Good luck you big lug, thought Wayne, knowing how little Aegis actually practiced stealth. Then again, Wayne hadn't exactly tracked a lot of people either, so he and Aegis both had to go above and beyond today.

It was easy to keep an eye on Yang and her blue-haired passenger as they went streaking down the streets, or at least it would've been if Wayne didn't have to avoid certain little things like following too close, accidently passing, avoiding traffic, and generally trying to not look like he was following her. Fortunately for Wayne, though, neither Yang nor Neptune were looking for or expecting anyone to be following them so they rarely looked behind them for most of the way. The few times they did look back, Wayne would either quickly pull behind a car or other convenient object to stay out of sight or, if it was just Neptune looking back, he would slow down and act like he was looking at something else in front of him. Wayne continued following his friends for some time before they finally entered the shady side of town. The sight of slightly older, run down, and shady looking buildings, as well as the smell of dumpsters, people, and other not so lawful stuff going on behind closed doors was a definite giveaway, to Wayne at least, that this was not the part of town you wanted to be in late at night, which was ironic considering night had recently fallen and Wayne was still following Yang's motorcycle, having to be even more cautious due to the lack of cars in the area.

A short ride later: Junior's Club

After another few minutes, Yang finally pulled onto a small street where she slowed to a stop in front of what appeared to be some sort of club. Wayne slowed just long enough to see them stop, before he sped around the other side of the club and parked his bike just out of sight. Wayne secured his bike as quickly as he could and hurried towards where Yang had parked, just in time to hear a loud explosion at the front of the club. Well that didn't take long, thought Wayne as he slowed to a walk in front of the club. Wayne didn't get much farther than the front door, however, as a large group of men wearing suits, fedora hats, and red sunglasses stood on the other side of the open club doors with pistols pointed in his, or rather Yang's, direction. Wayne hovered at the entrance with his right hand in his coat grasping one of his weapons as he readied himself for the worst. What did you do, thought Wayne as the music in the club was suddenly stopped as Neptune asked Yang to define her definition of 'friend.'

Wayne was about to pull out his weapon when someone behind the armed men ordered them to stop. A man in a bartender's jacket pushed his way to the front of the armed men with a confused look on his face. "Blondie you're here, why?" asked the man. "You still owe me a drink," Yang replied as she stepped forward, grabbed the man by his collar and dragged him to the bar. "What a woman," said Neptune as he watched Yang drag the man away. My thoughts exactly, Wayne mused as he removed his hand from his coat and walked into the club. As Wayne was about to walk by, Neptune tried hitting on a pair of twins, one in a red dress and another in a white dress, and both of whom rejected him flat out. "A little more subtlety next time," Wayne said as he passed Neptune with a pat on his shoulder and headed for a table near the bar, taking a seat with his back facing Yang. Wayne had managed to pick a table which was near a rather shiny reflective surface, so shiny and reflective in fact that he could make out Yang and Neptune talking to the man in the bartender outfit.

So that's Junior, thought Wayne, recalling the story Yang had told him once about blowing up a night club full of mob thugs. He should be a bit more subtle too, thought Wayne, the atmosphere in this club reeked of criminals. Wayne recalled having to visit this part of town one more than one occasion, normally because he had to track Aegis down when he got lost chasing down another Faunus hater or criminal he ran into while he was shopping or exploring the city, and each time Wayne could almost swear he could smell the stench of the dirty deals being made. But none of that mattered right now, the only thing that mattered at this moment was keeping an eye on his friends.

City of Vale Warehouse District: At the Same hour

This sucks, thought Aegis, as he pulled around and parked near an alley that Blake and Sun had went down, leave it to Wayne to come up with such a complex plan which only promised the 'possibility' of beating up something. Oh well, not like I had a whole lot else to do this evening. After a moment, Aegis removed his helmet, secured his bike and made his way to the alley, following Blake and Sun's scent. Aegis did his best to keep out of sight by creeping along the walls and peering around the other side before quickly pulling his head back behind the wall. Blake and Sun had stopped at a spot where white claw marks had been drawn on the wall, indicating a White Fang meeting location.

Here goes, thought Aegis as he pulled out the Grimm mask Wayne had given him and fitted it over his face. The mask only covered his nose and eyes, but Aegis figured since Blake hadn't seen his new outfit, and if he followed at a far enough distance behind them, then he shouldn't be spotted. Aegis waited another moment for Blake and Sun to head down another alley, both also donning Grimm masks, before he headed down himself. Soon enough, Aegis spotted one of the White Fang members in their usual black and white uniform ushering Blake, Sun, and several other Faunus into a warehouse. Here goes nothing, Aegis thought as he proceeded into the warehouse, doing his best to keep a few people between him and his friends so they wouldn't spot him if they looked over their shoulders. The inside of the warehouse was much larger than Aegis had first thought, in fact if Aegis hadn't known any better he would've thought they were at a rock concert with all the people crowding around, making it hard to move and, if Aegis had been shorter, hard to see.

Several rows of White Fang members stood in multiple rows, all wearing their uniforms, while a few more patrolled the cat walks above. Aegis, Blake, and Sun, were on the right side of the warehouse where all the new recruits were dressed in plain street clothes. Aegis knew he was supposed to keep an eye on Blake and Sun, but he couldn't help but keep glancing up at the stage, where a rather large White Fang member, likely a lieutenant, was pacing around on the stage with a full face mask on. The crowd quieted down as the Lieutenant spoke, thanking everyone for showing up. Aegis wasn't really the type to listen to speeches of any kind and would've stopped listening to this guy fairly soon, if not for the fact that he introduced a man, a human, wearing a white coat and black hat who was carrying a cane. Torchwick, Aegis thought, paying full attention now, what's he doing here? Several other Faunus started yelling in protest, also demanding to know why a human was at a White Fang meeting.

"I'm very glad you asked dearie," said Torchwick to one of the audience members who was demanding to know, "Now I'll be the first to admit, humans are the worst, case in point." Here we go with the speeches, Aegis thought as Torchwick began to carry on about how humans and their institutions were all to blame for the Faunus's lot in life. The guy's a criminal, Aegis wanted to shout, nothing he says can be trusted, why are you even working with this guy? Aegis's unvoiced question was quickly answered when Torchwick signaled for a curtain to be pulled, revealing a fifty foot robot with two large cannons for its hands, several smaller gun turrets dotted around its body and a rectangular cockpit on the front of the robot, all of which was supported on two large legs with exposed hydraulics. An Atlesian Paladin, the name sprang into Aegis's head, Ok, that's a pretty convincing reason, Aegis thought awestruck by the machine's pure intimidating presence. Aegis was so awestruck, he almost missed Torchwick mentioning that the White Fang had a hideout in the Southeast. Ok, I think it's time to go, thought Aegis as he saw Blake and Sun trying to do the same. "Will all new recruits please step forward," The lieutenant yelled, causing the crowd to surge forward, preventing Aegis or his friends from going anywhere but forward. Ah # #, thought Aegis, I hope Wayne is having as much fun as I am right now.

Junior's Nightclub

Well this is just great, thought Wayne as he was forced to take his eyes off of Yang and Neptune to deal with another problem, or rather two problems. The two twin girls, one in a red dress with a short skirt and the other in a white dress with a short skirt who Neptune had tried hitting on earlier, were now standing over him with annoyed expressions on their faces. "We'll ask one more time," said the white twin, "Are you," "Or are you not here to cause trouble?" the red twin said, finishing the white twin's sentence. "Well first off," replied Wayne still trying to keep his head down, "What makes you think I'm here to cause trouble?" "You came in here right after the last trouble maker," said the white twin, "And you're wearing a Grimm mask," said the red twin, "Both are rather suspicious." "Well you see," said Wayne, "what are your names?"

"Melanie," said the white twin, "Militia," said the red twin. "Well Melanie, Militia," Said Wayne, trying to sound friendly, "you two can relax, I'm just visiting from Atlas, I'm not here to cause trouble, in fact I intend to prevent any trouble from happening if I can help it." "So you're not with them then," asked Melanie, indicating Yang and Neptune. "Oh I'm just keeping an eye on them for a friend," replied Wayne, "Now that I think about it, I heard she was the one who tore this place up the last time she was here right?" "Don't remind us," both twins said at the same time. An idea began creeping into Wayne's head, maybe he could do more than keep an eye on Yang and Neptune. "You know, if Junior doesn't give her the answers she wants, what do you think the odds are of her trashing this place again?" Asked Wayne. Both twins shifted uncomfortably, obviously not wanting to think about the possibility.

"Tell you what," Wayne said, "What if I told you I could stop her from tearing this place apart again in exchange for, oh I don't know, a little bit of information, heck I'll throw in a couple of drinks while I'm at it if you like." The twins looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Wayne. "What makes you think we know anything going on around here?" asked Melanie. "Oh come now," said Wayne, "Two beautiful intelligent ladies like yourselves know very well to keep your ears open for all kinds of stuff, especially if you're working for a guy who's supposed to know everything." "If we say no," asked Militia. "Let's just say I've heard it's easy to set her off," replied Wayne pointing his thumb in Yang's direction, "So why don't ya'll take a seat and we can discuss a few things over drinks." The twins glanced at each other once again before slowly sitting down while Wayne signaled the waiter to bring them some drinks. "So what do you want to know?" Melanie asked. "Well I was hoping you two might be able to tell me about a rather colorful character named Roman Torchwick."

Wayne questioned the Malachite twins, he found out their last name a few minutes into the conversation, with every question he could think of. As it turned out, however, Torchwick had become rather scarce ever since the incident at the docks, in fact neither he nor the men Junior lent him had been seen since before the start of the semester at Beacon, and even the Malachite twins were almost unaware of the fact that Torchwick and the White Fang were now working together. "Ok, so you don't know where he is, where Junior's men are, or why Torchwick is on a dust robbing spree?" Wayne said in summary. "If we did believe me," said Melanie, "We'd tell you," finished Militia, "But like we said, we haven't seen him," "Since the night that blond over there tore this place apart." "Well that's a pain," said Wayne, "Anything else you girls think I ought to know, anything out of the ordinary in the criminal underworld?" "Nothing having to do with Torchwick," said Militia, "Or the White Fang," said Melanie.

Wayne took a moment to contemplate a few things as he glanced over to where Yang was at again, making sure she wasn't about to blow something up. Fortunately, Yang didn't appear to be in the mood for blowing up clubs tonight as she turned and headed towards the club's entrance. Judging by Yang's expression, she had had about the same amount of luck questioning Junior as Wayne had had questioning the twins. "Well at the very least," said Wayne as he turned back to the twins, "It appears nothing in this club is blowing up this evening." Wayne got up from his seat and laid a few lien on the table. "It was a pleasure talking with you ladies, and maybe next time we'll have a more pleasant conversation, 'til then, enjoy your evening." Wayne turned and headed for a side door he'd seen coming in, which wound up exiting near the alley where Wayne had parked his bike. I hope Aegis is having better luck than I am right about now, thought Wayne.

 **And the build up continues, but don't worry, next chapter will feature team WA in action, and against some rather tough opponents too. If you want to find out who, be sure to read the next chapter, and as always, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've given this story a chance, you make this worthwhile. 'Til next time.**


	15. Freeway Rumble

**Freeway Rumble**

White Fang Meeting

This is just great, thought Aegis as he nervously looked around the crowded room, trying not to be shoved forward by the large mob of people behind him. Blake and Sun weren't faring any better, in fact, since they were a little closer to the stage, it was pretty likely Torchwick would see them. Aegis kept looking at the stage, trying to see if and when Torchwick would spot any of them. Don't look over here, thought Aegis, just don't look over here and we'll be fine. But it was too late, Torchwick finally caught sight of Blake and Sun near the front, angrily tossing his cigar away as he moved forward to alert the White Fang members. Think Aegis, think, how do we get out of here. Fortunately, Blake was one step ahead of Aegis as he saw her pull out her weapon and shoot at an electrical panel, shutting off all the lights in the warehouse.

Aegis's half-Faunus eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness, just enough time for him to see Blake and Sun leap from the crowd and onto the stage. Aegis quickly followed by leaping from where he was, drawing his weapon in mid-air as he landed on the stage behind Blake and Sun, who were heading for the window. Aegis tried following after them, but Torchwick had climbed into the Atlesian Paladin during the commotion and started it up. The large machine shifted its bulk, nearly stepping on Aegis, who moved out of the way at the last second, and charged after Blake and Sun. The two Faunus dove through a window at the far end of the warehouse, with the Paladin only a few moments behind them. Aegis rushed to follow them, but took a second to generate a large rectangular shard of glass which he hurled at the ceiling of the warehouse, knocking some of the rafters lose and sending them crashing down on the stage behind him, cutting off the rest of the crowd from following them. I take it back, thought Aegis as he rushed out of the large hole in the wall created by the Paladin and over to his bike, Wayne knows how to find exciting stuff after all. Oh that's right, Aegis thought to himself as he pulled out his scroll and mounted his bike, best give him a call.

Outside Junior's Club

Wayne was just getting on his bike when his scroll buzzed in his pocket. "What's happening," asked Wayne as Aegis's image popped up. "We got trouble," said Aegis over the scroll.

"What kind of trouble?" Wayne asked. "The giant robot chasing after our friends through town kind of trouble," replied Aegis over the sound of his motorcycle. "Where at-" Wayne asked before he heard, and felt, the sound of giant metallic footsteps pounding on the pavement on the other side of the building, "Never mind I think I know."

Wayne heard Yang speed away on her bike before he quickly started and gunned the motor on his bike as he raced after them. He chased them down the main street for a ways before he heard the sound of another bike pulling up next to him.

"So do we have any sort of plan for dealing with one of those things?" yelled Aegis over the sound of their motorcycle engines. "Hit it with everything we got," replied Wayne.

"I hoped you'd say that," yelled Aegis excitedly as the two brothers increased the speed of the bikes. The chase took them all the way down the city street before they pulled onto the freeway, which, irritatingly enough, was covered with cars all speeding in the same direction as them.

"Don't wreck any cars if you can help it," yelled Wayne as he and Aegis maneuvered through traffic, and a few spinning cars caused by the Paladin's pursuit, trying their best to catch up to Yang. They were nearly there when Wayne saw Neptune reach for his weapon, which Torchwick must have seen as well with the Paladin's sensors, because the giant robot suddenly knocked several cars into the air.

"Incoming," yelled Aegis as the two brothers were forced to pull back and maneuver wildly from right to left in order to avoid the cars flying through the air. One car nearly nailed Wayne in the head, and would have if he hadn't slowed and swung his back end around, allowing him to lean back and duck the car. That was too close, thought Wayne as he took a quick glance back, and saw a military cargo truck in pursuit, one which was being driven by a White Fang member.

"Pull back," yelled Wayne, "We got trouble in the rear." Aegis took a glance back, intending to protest, before he recognized the truck being driven by the White Fang member. "Dividing line," Aegis yelled back. "Dividing line," Wayne confirmed as he pulled out his weapon, shifted it to sickle form and, attaching the wire up his sleeve to his weapon, tossed it to Aegis. Aegis caught the weapon and ran his semblance energy around it, while Wayne ran his own semblance energy through it, causing a glowing white energy to radiate from the wire. The two brothers pulled the wire taught and slowed their bikes at the same time, holding the wire at the trucks tire level as it tried speeding past them.

The wire sliced through the tires like a hot knife through butter, causing the truck's front end to fall to the ground, then, with its momentum carrying it forward, the truck flipped to the side and rolled several feet before sliding, causing sparks to fly, before it finally stopped. That's one problem down, thought Wayne as he caught his weapon, which Aegis had tossed back to him, and maneuvered around the crashed truck. Before Wayne could get around the whole truck, however, a figure suddenly leaped from the top of the downed truck, slashing at him with some kind of blade. Wayne barely had enough time to move his head out of the way as he felt the blade pass mere inches from his ear. That's not good, thought Wayne as he spun his motorcycle around and came to a halt, now in front of the crashed truck as Aegis pulled up alongside him, also swinging around and stopping in front of the truck.

Wayne had enough time to glance back and see that there was ice on the freeway and that one of the barriers was out, meaning the Atlesian Paladin must've slid off the roadway because Wayne didn't see it anywhere along the road. A large revving noise drew Wayne's attention back to the truck as an enormous chainsaw weapon suddenly cut through the top lining of the truck, tearing a large hole through the fabric, allowing a hulking figure to step through, wearing a full Grimm face mask and White Fang uniform. Another figure landed next to the White Fang member.

This one was, surprisingly, a short human girl, probably no taller than Ruby, who had pink hair on one side of her head and brown on the other, also with a pink eye and a brown eye. She wore white boots, black pants and a black shirt, a black belt, a pink business-looking coat, several bead necklaces, and black gloves. The girl also held an open, pink-parasol umbrella on her shoulder with a confident smile on her face.

"How long do you think they can handle the robot," asked Wayne. "Team RWBY beat the two of us," replied Aegis as he shut off his bike's engine and put the kickstand down, "They can handle it for at least a little while." Wayne thought for a second before shutting off his bike and putting his kickstand down. Both brothers stepped off their bikes and approached their opponents, Aegis drawing his weapon while Wayne held the one Crescent Fang he'd already drawn in his hand in sickle form. "So which one do you want?" Asked Wayne.

"I fought a girl earlier today," replied Aegis, "It's your turn to be the gentlemen." "Fair enough," said Wayne. The two brothers took a few more steps towards their opponents, pausing long enough to see who would make the first move. In another moment, and as expected, Aegis made the first move, charging the White Fang Lieutenant, as Aegis had called him, and knocking him back with a glass ax blade colliding with the chainsaw weapon. Wayne quickly followed by charging and sweeping low with his leg, only to encounter air as the parasol girl nimbly leapt back. Wayne used his momentum to carry himself into a spinning back kick, followed by a round house, then several more kicks after that, each one failing to connect with anything other than air as the girl spun, sidestepped, or gracefully dodged out of the way of all his attacks.

Wayne tried changing tactics by following with a left jab after his last failed kick, only for the parasol girl to spin to the left and block it with her now closed parasol and counter with a high kick aimed for Wayne's face. Wayne barely blocked it with his weapon hand as he spun and slashed at the girl's head, who swiftly ducked it, knocked his next jab aside with her parasol and aimed a spinning kick at the right side of Wayne's head. Wayne barely had enough time to lean back as he felt the rushing air from the girl's boot pass just inches from his chin, before countering with several diagonal strikes with his Crescent Fang, which the girl gracefully dodged yet again, the smile never once leaving her face. She's enjoying this, thought Wayne as he tried again unsuccessfully to slash her midsection, nearly being met with a kick to the stomach, which he barely dodged. Well let's see if you enjoy this, thought Wayne as he slashed upwards at his opponent's head. The girl simply flipped backwards, but this time Wayne reached into his coat and pulled out his other Crescent Fang in its SMG form and opened fire.

The girl quickly opened her parasol, which must've been reinforced with some form of weapons grade material, and held it out in front of her as Wayne's bullets impacted and ricocheted harmlessly off the parasol. Wayne kept firing as he charged and slid foot first, slashing with his other weapon at the girl's feet. She saw it coming, however, and simply leaped right over Wayne, keeping her parasol in front of her as Wayne quickly shifted his right weapon to SMG form and tried firing at her while she was in the air. Every one of Wayne's shots ricocheted off the parasol without one ever getting close enough to even graze her. Wayne stopped firing and shifted both his weapons to sickle form as the girl placed her open parasol on her shoulder, her confident smile still unaltered by their confrontation.

Okay, thought Wayne, guess I'll have to stop playing nice and cut loose a bit. He attached his weapons to the wires in his sleeves as he cautiously approached the girl. Wayne opened up with a feint, making it look like he was going to slash with his left weapon, but stopping at the last second to attack with his right weapon. His opponent saw through it, however, and stopped Wayne's right weapon with her parasol. Wayne did a follow up slash with his left weapon, which the girl dodged as Wayne again struck with his right weapon, which was batted away with the parasol, only this time, Wayne let it fall and, readjusting it in the air slightly, swung it on the wire into an upward slash. The girl managed to dodge the upward strike and blocked Wayne's next strike, which he also turned into an upward slash by swinging it on the wire.

Wayne tried several more unorthodox moves, striking, then swinging one or both weapons on their wires, then catching and striking again, while also adding his own assortment of kicks into the mix. But the girl was good, she dodged, spun away from or used her parasol to block each and every one of Wayne's attacks. Alright, thought Wayne, try this. Charging up a small amount of his semblance in his right weapon and, as the girl blocked his left weapon again, he unleashed a slash at her. The girl just managed to leap over the wave of energy, and Wayne, as she spun in the air and landed in a sitting position on the overturned truck, her legs crossed and her open parasol on her shoulder again, and still wearing that same smile.

"You're good," said Wayne as he relaxed his fighting stance, "I mean really good." The girl simply remained sitting there, silent and smiling. "So tell me, how did a girl like you wind up working for a piece of ## # scumbag like Roman Torchwick?" The girl remained silent, tilting her head a little, be it in wonder at Wayne's question he didn't know.

"Not much of a talker I see," said Wayne as he resumed his fighting stance, "That's a shame, I bet you have a lovely voice." Wayne thought he saw her smile falter slightly, but it was so quick he wasn't sure, and he didn't have time to wonder anyway as a large body suddenly came flying over the truck and landing several feet behind Wayne, the White Fang Lieutenant. The parasol girl leapt away from the truck as a large glass blade suddenly cut through where she had been only moments before. Wayne took the opportunity to leap up and meet her in the air, slashing at her midsection again. But the girl managed to block Wayne's right strike and, using its momentum, spun in the air and aimed another kick at Wayne's head. Wayne blocked the kick with his left arm as the girl kicked again, this time at his weapon and pushed off, landing in front of the barely conscious White Fang Lieutenant.

The roof of the truck which was behind Wayne tore open as Aegis, with a few torn places on his outfit, stepped out, his weapon at the ready. "I'm guessing you're done with your guy?" Said Wayne as his brother stopped next to him.

"Yeah he was strong but not that skilled," said Aegis, "Guy took a pretty good beating before I took him down though, how about you, I see that parasol girl over there doesn't have a mark on her."

"She may be small but she's fast," said Wayne, "And more skilled than several of the fighters at Beacon." "Or maybe you're just too nice," said Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon to the ice setting, "I'll bet you just now started using your semblance to fight."

"Yeah," Wayne answered grudgingly. "Well it's two on one now, so no more 'I'm a nice guy' excuses." Said Aegis as he prepared to charge. Wayne readied himself too, until he heard a familiar sound approaching. "Aegis wait," yelled Wayne, but found he was too late as his brother was already charging towards the parasol girl who had suddenly bowed. Aegis's weapon impacted with the girl's body which, oddly, shattered like glass as several shards littered the freeway and dissipated shortly afterward.

"What the," asked an obviously confused Aegis. The girl had disappeared, with the White Fang Lieutenant as well, and was nowhere to be seen. "She must have a glass or illusion semblance," said Wayne.

"Yeah but where did she go?" asked Aegis in a frustrated voice. Wayne thought for a moment, before he heard the sound again. "This way," Wayne said as he headed for the edge of the freeway where the Atlesian Paladin had fallen. The two brothers leapt from the top highway, to the middle highway in time to see a bullhead flying away, with both Roman Torchwick and the parasol girl on board. That's the sound I was hearing, thought Wayne, they got a bullhead down here. Aegis wanted to chase after the bullhead but Wayne stopped him, knowing it would be long gone before either of them could catch up to it.

"Well now what," asked Aegis. "We head down and check on our friends," replied Wayne. The two brothers dropped down, landing a few feet away from team RWBY, who all turned with surprised expressions on their faces. "Is everyone alright-" Wayne began to ask before team RWBY suddenly pointed all their weapons at him and Aegis. "Wo wo wo," exclaimed Aegis, "Easy."

"And just who are you two?" asked Weiss. "Who are-" Wayne began before he remembered "Oh right I forgot, masks off bro." "Aw, but I didn't even get to use my cool back story," Aegis complained as he and Wayne removed their masks.

"Wayne, Aegis?" questioned a confused Ruby. "What are you two doing here?" asked Yang. "Well you see-" Wayne began before he was cut off by Aegis.

"Wayne eavesdropped on ya'll and got worried so we've been following you guys all night," Said Aegis. "But why didn't you tell us?" asked Blake.

"And what's with the masks?" asked Ruby. "Well I kind of figured you guys didn't want to get friends involved," Wayne said, rubbing the back of his head, "But I was also worried you guys might run into trouble too, so I came up with the plan to follow you guys, well Yang and Blake anyway because they were going to dangerous spots, and jump in if everything went sour, and it looks like I was right."

"Then where the heck were you two," asked Weiss, mildly irritated. "Following you guys on our motorcycles, cutting up a White Fang truck that was following you guys," answered Aegis, "But we also got held up by a crazy chainsaw guy and some parasol girl with a glass semblance."

"Although," said Wayne as he looked at the ground, which was littered with robot parts, "It looks like you might not have needed as much help as I thought." "Yeah we took care of that," said Yang as she smiled and put her arms behind her head.

"Yeah, but no one's said where Sun and Neptune are," Said Ruby. "Oh those guys," said Aegis, "They went flying in the direction of that noodle house way over there." Aegis pointed a thumb to his left, indicating the direction.

"They're fine," said Yang. "Well either way, we'd best get back to Beacon," Said Blake. "Well sorry we couldn't be of more help," said Wayne. "Although if anyone needs a lift," said Aegis, "Our bikes are just up there, it's a lot faster than walking back." The girls looked at each other for a moment, before huddling and whispering to each other.

"You know it always makes me uneasy when I see a group of girls do that," Wayne whispered to Aegis. "Why," asked Aegis. "I always feel like they're plotting something," Replied Wayne. After a few moments, the girls exited their little huddle and turned back towards Wayne and Aegis. "We've talked it over and we've decided," Said Ruby, "Since you guys wanted to be helpful this evening, Weiss and Blake can ride back with you two and I'll ride back with Yang." "Fair enough," said Wayne, "So, who's riding with who?"

Back on the Freeway: A Few Minutes Later

"This is unbelievable," said Weiss as she sat behind Wayne on his motorcycle. The heiress had absolutely refused to ride with Aegis, and Ruby and Yang had already decided they were riding together. So here she was, on the back of Wayne's motorcycle.

"What's unbelievable is the fact that I didn't bring my helmet," Said Wayne. "You're a huntsmen in training," said Weiss, "Why would you need a helmet for a motorcycle?"

"I only wear it when I don't have a passenger," replied Wayne, "Gotta set a good example if I'm gonna be a huntsmen, but if I have a passenger, they get the helmet, although with the way you wear your hair it's probably best I didn't bring it."

"Let's just go," said an annoyed Weiss, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "First you need to be hanging on," said Wayne. "Hanging on to what?" asked Weiss.

"Me of course," said Wayne. "What!" exclaimed Weiss. "You need to take your arms and wrap them around my waist," Wayne replied a little more slowly.

"That's ridiculous," said Weiss. "Only if you actually like flying off the back of a motorcycle when we hit a bump," Said Wayne. The heiress puffed her cheeks up in frustration. "You can always walk," Said Wayne.

Weiss continued to stare angrily at Wayne for another few moments before she finally relented and wrapped her arms around Wayne's waist. "Don't you dare get any funny ideas," said Weiss threateningly. "I need both hands to drive this thing," said Wayne as he pulled up the kickstand, "Don't worry about any funny business from me."

With that, Wayne started the engine. "How can you stand all that noise," yelled Weiss over the engine. "You get used to it," Wayne yelled back. "Are you two ready yet," yelled Aegis, who had a somewhat concerned Blake sitting on the back of his bike. Wayne gave a thumbs up to Aegis, who immediately gunned his motor and sped away, with Blake hanging on tight.

"Hang on," said Wayne as he leaned forward, gunned the motor and sped after his little brother. The heiress's grip, which had been fairly light, suddenly turned into a death grip on Wayne's waist as they sped through the city, slipping past cars and whipping around turns, with Weiss letting out a surprised gasp or yell every so often. "Whoever made these things," yelled Weiss over the engine, "Did not have rider safety in mind."

"Well technically," Wayne yelled back, "We're encouraged not to carry passengers on these things." "What!" Yelled Weiss in surprised terror. "Just keep holding on and you'll be fine," Yelled Wayne. The heiress didn't need any encouragement as her death grip on Wayne's waist was squeezing nearly all the air out of him. They continued riding through the streets, bobbing and weaving through what little traffic there was at this time of night, and all the while, Weiss was either screaming, complaining or, if Wayne wasn't mistaken, saying some very unladylike swear words, that she probably picked up from listening to him and Aegis. Finally, after a lot of terrified yelling, they arrived at the storage house where they kept theirs, and Yang's, bikes.

"What kept ya," asked Yang as Ruby hopped off the back of her bike, "Me and Aegis where practically racing here." "I was trying not to give our little heiress here a heart attack," Replied Wayne as he leaned back and switched off his motorcycle's engine. "Yo Weiss, you ok back there?" Asked Wayne.

"Is it over," asked a trembling Weiss, who still hadn't loosened her death grip on Wayne's waist. "Yeah we're here," replied Wayne, "And not that this isn't nice and all but you can probably let go." Weiss took a moment to realize that she was still holding onto Wayne and, after blushing a bit, quickly let go and slid off of Wayne's bike.

"Whoever designed those death traps should die," said Weiss, recomposing herself. "I think he's already dead," Said Wayne. The heiress simply huffed and walked away. Wayne dismounted his bike and started rolling it over to the storage area.

"Where did your brother learn to ride like that anyway?" asked Yang. "My mother," Replied Wayne, "She's the one who got him the bike." "Well he drives like a maniac," said Blake, suddenly walking up to Wayne, now that she was done yelling at Aegis, "You're brother nearly killed us over a dozen times, I would've been safer walking."

"I thought it was fun," said Ruby, "We were racing and everything." "Well next time race without me on the back," Said Blake as she also walked away in a huff. "I guess motorcycle rides are out of the question for our next trip to the city," Said Wayne. "For those two anyway," Replied Yang. "Can we go now?" Exclaimed Blake and Weiss at the same time. "They'll warm up to it," Said Aegis as they stored their bikes and headed back to Beacon.

 **And here we are at the end of the undercover chapters, and at yet another milestone as this story has reached over a thousand views and counting. So once more I'd like to give a huge thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers. Just knowing that people are willing take a little time to read this story is encouraging. Now the action is gonna slow down a little bit in the next chapter as Wayne and Aegis face a challenge neither of them expected, learning how to dance. But don't worry, it'll pick back up soon. 'Til next time.**


	16. The Dance of Pain

**The Dance of Pain**

Beacon Training Room

That was too close, Wayne thought to himself as he dodged a kick aimed at his head. He then had to move out of the way of another series of punches and kicks, narrowly avoiding a punch to his stomach and another kick to his head as his agile opponent flipped away and landed a few feet away.

"Are you alright," asked Velvet, relaxing her fighting stance a little. "Who me," asked Wayne back, tensing up his stance a little, "Yeah I'm good." "You seem distracted," said Velvet, "You haven't dropped a single joke yet and you've been on the defensive this whole time."

"I guess I had a long night," replied Wayne, "Got a few things on my mind." "Anything serious," asked Velvet. "Na, just a couple of friends makin' some mischief, and/or fear of the upcoming dance, nothing major," Wayne replied as he relaxed his fighting stance.

"But you are right, I am off my game a little, so maybe we should just call it a draw for this sparring match."

"Are you really that worried about a little dance?" asked Velvet, with her hand on her hip. "It's not just that, but yes, the dance does have me a little worried," replied Wayne, rubbing the back of his head as he and Velvet walked out of the sparring arena. The rest of team CFWY was busy planning for their away mission which was happening today. Velvet, who was somewhat nervous, as usual, came to Wayne in hopes of getting her mind off the mission for a bit. Normally, Wayne would spar with her for a bit and try to make her laugh, but today, it seemed, both of them had their minds on something other than sparring.

"You aren't worried that my team's going to pull something over on you and Aegis at the dance are you," asked Velvet. "No, it's not that," replied Wayne, "In fact I think your team is doing a great job planning and organizing the dance."

"Ok, if it's not the dance itself that's worrying you, then what is," asked Velvet. "Well you see-," Wayne began. "Wait," Velvet cut Wayne off, "You aren't afraid to ask a girl out to the dance are you?"

"Well uh, you see," Wayne tried to think of something while rubbing the back of his head even more nervously, but, coming up with nothing, simply let his head droop. "Alright you caught me," Wayne breathed in a sigh before he continued, "I have no idea how to ask a girl out to anything."

"Oh well that's too bad," said Velvet, "If only you knew a few people, girls mainly, to ask for advice or better yet, for help with your little problem." Wayne smirked a little at the sarcastic remark, "Well, if I did know some of these people of which you speak," said Wayne, "What sort of help would they be able to give me?"

"Oh I don't know," replied Velvet, still being somewhat sarcastic, "They could teach you how to ask a girl out, how to talk to a girl you like, in fact some of them might know a girl or two who would be more than happy to go to the dance with you." "It sounds like you should introduce me to some of these all-knowing matchmakers," said Wayne with a smirk.

"Well it won't be easy," said Velvet, with a slight smirk of her own, "But I just might be able to arrange something-," Before Velvet could finish speaking her scroll began ringing. The rabbit Faunus quickly pulled out her scroll and read the incoming message. "It looks like you'll be going solo for a bit," said Velvet, "But don't worry, we shouldn't be gone long."

"Just stay safe," said Wayne as Velvet began to exit the training room. "You know it's funny," said Wayne as Velvet was about to head out the door, "You came in here looking for me to help you out, and instead you wind up helping me out."

"Oh you helped," said Velvet, "And once I get back, maybe Coco and I can return the favor." "I' m not sure Coco's really the matchmaking type," replied Wayne. "Only one way to find out," said Velvet as she headed out the door, but then poked her head back in to say one more thing, "And Wayne, try to keep yourself, and your brother, out of trouble while we're gone."

"No promises," Wayne yelled after her as she headed down the hallway at a lively pace. Wayne's smile faded after she was out of sight. While it was true the dance was on his mind, what was actually bothering him was the White Fang investigation, and more importantly, the fact that team RWBY didn't want him or his brother, Aegis, to tell any of their other friends about it. I hope you girls know what you're doing, Wayne thought, because there's no telling what's gonna happen next.

Team WA's Dorm: A Couple of Days Later

"Nothing," Wayne said with frustration as he tossed another book onto his bed. "No luck with that one," asked Aegis. "No, you," Wayne asked back.

"Nothing," Aegis replied as he loudly closed the large book he'd been reading. "What about the news feeds," Wayne asked, "Anything new?"

"Nothing," replied Aegis before asking his own question, "What about the net, any leads?"

"Nothing," replied Wayne. "Ok, anything new to do with the investigation overall?" Asked Aegis.

"Fat nothin'," replied Wayne. "How about any word from Coco about when team CFVY will be back?" asked Wayne.

"Ain't heard nothin'," replied Aegis, "Any luck with finding a date for the dance at least?"

"Got nothin'." Replied Wayne, a little sadly. "So we ain't heard nothin', ain't seen nothin', and we ain't got nothin'?" Said Aegis.

"That's about the long and short of it at the moment," Replied Wayne. "Well that's just great," exclaimed Aegis, "We already had plenty to worry about with school assignments, and now we got this and a dance to worry about."

"Don't stress out over the dance," said Wayne, "It's the least important thing right now, in fact we may be just as well off to skip it altogether." "You know all our friends probably want us to go right, including team RWBY," Aegis pointed out.

"Yeah I know, but even if we didn't have this investigation to worry about, I still wouldn't be all that willing to go," Said Wayne. "You're just saying that because you can't ballroom dance," Said Aegis.

"Neither can you," Wayne pointed out, "In all the other dances you and I have been to, we either stood around or did some improvised dance moves, but this is Beacon Academy, a very formal school which will likely require ballroom dancing if we decide to dance, and what does our ability or lack of ability to dance have to do with the White Fang anyway?"

"Well," Aegis began, "At this point in the evening there's not much more we can do to investigate the White Fang, especially considering the fact that our eyes and heads hurt from staring at pages and screens all day, so we may as well call it a day for the investigation and take care of the problems that we can figure out right now."

"Are you saying that you've figured out a way to learn ballroom dancing?" Asked Wayne, "Because I saw the last time you tried ballroom dancing, it looked like you were trying to grapple with your partner and slam them to the ground."

"That's because I was," said Aegis, "That girl needed her ego toned down a notch or two." "Well either way," Wayne said, "What solutions have you come up with so far?" "Oh I'm just gonna take some lessons from Yang," Replied Aegis.

"Wait, Yang Xiaolong knows how to ballroom dance?" Questioned a surprised Wayne. "Oh yeah," replied Aegis, "Turns out she knows a lot about good etiquette, she just chooses to ignore most of it." "Okay," Wayne said, "Well if I decide to go maybe I'll ask her." "You may as well go," said Aegis, "If you tell everyone you're not going, Ruby will put on those puppy dog eyes of hers and neither of us have ever said no to those puppy dog eyes." "I'll take that into consideration," said Wayne, "But first things first, we find out whether or not Yang will teach more than one person."

Beacon Dorms: A Few Hours Later

Well that was a complete bust, thought Wayne as he made his way down the hallway, supporting his barely conscious brother on his right side to keep him from falling over. While Aegis would say he thought it went well, Wayne thought otherwise. They had both gone to an empty practice room where Yang had said she'd meet Aegis to teach him ballroom dancing. Wayne went along to see if she'd teach him as well, which she might have, if it weren't for the fact that Aegis had also taken this little dance session as an opportunity to get a little revenge on Yang for eating some of his food one day while Aegis had been in the bathroom outside of the cafeteria. As soon as Yang had gotten to the part about actually dancing, Aegis had twirled her around and tossed her out a window, the first floor window fortunately but still a window, and while Yang pretended to accept his apology, she got a little revenge of her own by stepping on Aegis's feet while they were practicing.

This, of course, led to Aegis 'accidentally' slamming her into a wall. Several more 'accidental' wall bumps occurred until Aegis and Yang's little practice session turned into a grappling match, with lots of wall and floor slamming. By the end of it, both Yang and Aegis had been too exhausted to move all that much, so Wayne had called Blake to get Yang while he hauled his brother up and carried him back to their dorm room. It was at this point, that Wayne decided Yang would have enough trouble just teaching Aegis and he was about to make up his mind about not going to the dance, that is until he bumped into Ruby outside of her dorm room.

"Oh hey Wayne," said Ruby happily, "What happened to Aegis?" "You're sister," Replied Wayne. "Oh, did Aegis do something naughty again," asked Ruby. "No, the two of them were just practicing ballroom dancing," replied Wayne, "And what do you mean by 'again'?"

"Oh nothing," said Ruby, "Hey if he's practicing dancing, does that mean the two of you are going to the dance?" "Well he's probably going," said Wayne, indicating Aegis, "But I'm not so sure."

"Why not," asked Ruby, suddenly sounding a little worried. "Well you see," Wayne started to explain, "I've thought it over and I'm pretty sure Yang has enough to deal with just teaching my brother how to dance, so since I can't ballroom dance all that well, I was thinking I just might skip the dance and, oh come on that's not fair."

Ruby's eyes had shifted into their familiar, sad puppy dog eye state. "But I can't dance all that well either," said Ruby, "But I'm still going because my friends will be there." "I know everyone will be there," replied Wayne, "And the main part of the reason I don't want to go is so I don't embarrass them or-," Wayne stopped speaking as he realized he was at a loss. Truthfully, other than the fact that he couldn't ballroom dance, he had no real reason not to go.

"Oh ok," said Wayne, once again failing to resist the puppy dog eyes, "I'll be there, you can count on that." "Oh thank you," exclaimed Ruby, her happy smile returning. "Now first things first," Said Wayne, "I need to get this big pile of fur back to the dorm room."

"Sure thing," said Ruby, opening the door to her own dorm room, "Thanks again." Wayne let out a sigh as soon as Ruby closed the door. It should be illegal to use adorableness like that, he thought as he dragged Aegis back to the dorm room. Either way, though, Wayne now had two dilemmas to solve, one being who, if anyone, should he ask to the dance, and more importantly at the moment, who was gonna teach him how to ballroom dance?

Beacon Dorms: The Next Day

"You're not serious," she said as Wayne finished his explanation of what he needed. "You're completely serious," she said after Wayne remained silent, "Unbelievable."

"Like I said, you were the only person I could think of that knows how to ballroom dance who isn't completely crazy or busy helping someone else," Said Wayne. "Can't you ask Blake, or Pyrrha," She asked.

"I didn't want to ask Pyrrha, she's already helping Jaune with, well lots of stuff probably," replied Wayne, "And I already tried asking Blake, but she's kind of in a 'Don't bother me I'm busy' sort of mood, you know like her usual self but more angry and less sociable, while Ren is busy teaching Nora how to dance, and Velvet and Coco are still on their mission."

"So," she asked. "So, once again, I'm asking this, Weiss Schnee, can you teach me how to ballroom dance and in exchange, now that you and Yang are setting up some of the dance, I'll help you with it in any way I can," Wayne said, in the most sincere voice he could muster.

"And just how would you help with the dance?" Asked Weiss. "I can hang things, hook up sound equipment, set tables, whatever you need, but as I've just told you, what I can't do is ballroom dance," Replied Wayne.

"Ok," said Weiss, "Say I do agree to teach you, you'd be willing to do even the most menial, boring tasks?" "Yep," Said Wayne. "You'd help me with whatever I asked you to help me with?" Asked Weiss.

"So long as it pertained to the dance, maybe one or two other things if you asked nicely," Replied Wayne. "Say I asked you to keep that crazy brother of yours under control at the dance," said Weiss, "Would you give me your word that he'd be on his best behavior, and above all, he'd keep the name calling to a minimum?"

Wayne sighed a little before answering, "Yes, I give you my word that I'll keep him under control as best as I can." Weiss looked thoughtful for a moment before she made up her mind. "Alright, I'll help you on two conditions, one is of course keeping your brother under control, and the second is, I want your word, your word that if I say something pertains to the dance, then you will help me with it in any way you can." "You have my word," said Wayne, "Just tell me what you need." Weiss pulled out a list of various items and handed it to Wayne. "That's a list of various pieces of electronic equipment that needs to be picked up this week and given to Yang," said Weiss, "Take care of that as soon as you can, because tomorrow you're meeting me in training room five for your first lesson." Well that's one problem solved, kinda, thought Wayne. Let's just hope she doesn't ask me to do anything weird.

 **Hello everyone, I'm back. Sorry I couldn't get a chapter out over the weekend, and that this chapter is short, but I've been moving and transitioning a bit, kind of keeps a guy away from the computer, and with the Christmas holidays just a few days away, I might be late with one or two other chapters. But don't worry, I should be back on a regular posting schedule soon, so once again, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who are still reading this story. Stop in next time as Wayne learns the ways of the dance and Aegis giving dating advice. 'Til next time.**


	17. Getting A Date, According to Aegis

**Getting a Date, According to Aegis**

Beacon Training Room Five: The Next Day

This is more nerve-wracking than I thought, Wayne muttered to himself as he stepped into training room five. While he'd danced with other girls before, he'd never had to do more than sway and/or side step a little in one direction or the other. Well I gotta start somewhere, he thought as he approached the center of the training room, where Weiss was waiting.

"I'm surprised," said Weiss, "You're early." "How's that a surprise," asked Wayne, "I show up early for all my classes, no reason this should be any different." "I'm surprised you're actually taking this whole thing seriously," said Weiss, "When you asked me for help, it sounded like you dreaded the very idea."

"If it makes you feel any better," said Wayne, "I'm still kind of dreading this." "Well then let's get this over with," said Weiss, "ditch the coat and let's get started." Wayne did as instructed, pulling off his coat and setting it aside in a neatly folded pile on the floor, placing his helmet on top, before heading over to Weiss and stopping only a couple feet from her.

"Ok, first things first," said Weiss, "Hand and foot placement." Weiss took Wayne's right hand and held it in her right hand, while directing Wayne's left hand to rest on top of her left arm. "Now keep your feet in line with mine and follow my lead." Wayne followed her lead as best as he could while trying to avoid stepping on the heiress's feet as they moved one way, then the other. It was moments like these that made Wayne glad he wore gloves, as his palms had started sweating when he realized the surprising amount of concentration it took just to keep up with his current partner. The fact that he was dancing with a nice smelling, attractive girl didn't help either. Eventually, Wayne got out of step and Weiss stopped them before he could step on her feet. "Have you ever ballroom danced in your life before today?" asked Weiss.

"Well my mother tried to teach me once a few years ago," Replied Wayne, "But I was still too afraid of girls at that point in my life for it to really make a difference, so I didn't pay all that much attention."

"And what about now," asked Weiss, "do girls still scare you?" "Not like they used to," replied Wayne, "But it's still kinda scary for me to ask a girl out."

"Well one problem at a time," said Weiss, "Now come on, we don't have all day." They resumed their dancing positions and started again, taking it slowly so Wayne could keep up. They didn't talk all that much as Wayne continued to concentrate on his foot work more than anything as he kept pace with Weiss as best as he could. What little conversation they did have was mostly Weiss correcting Wayne's form or foot placement, with Wayne usually replying with a quick question or a simple acknowledgement. It was awkward, to say the least, Wayne had to spend a lot of time staring down at his feet at first to make sure he was stepping in the right direction and somehow avoid looking down the white combat dress the heiress typically wore, which didn't always work.

"Don't get any ideas," Weiss had stated at one point, to which Wayne had replied he liked living too much to try anything. Finally, however, a buzzing noise came from the heiress's pocket as the two students let go and stepped away from each other.

"Well I didn't think you could surprise me twice in one day," said Weiss, "I'll be honest, I expected you to step on my feet a lot more." "To be honest, I'm surprised too," Said Wayne, "Because I did think about stepping on them on purpose a few times."

"That's not a good way to keep a dance instructor," replied Weiss. "Just joking, mostly." Wayne replied with a slight smirk. "Well either way," said Weiss, "I've got a few things that need to be straightened out with Yang about the dance, so keep your scroll on for when I need your help and for when our next session is."

"But of course," said Wayne in a mocking formal tone as he took a slight bow, "I am at your command your highness." "Just keep your scroll on," Said Weiss as she rolled her eyes before marching out of the training area. Wayne then retrieved his coat and helmet and headed out of the training room as well.

Team WA's Dorm: A little While Later

"So what happened to you," Wayne asked as he examined a large bruise on Aegis's face. "Dancing lessons," Aegis replied with an annoyed look on his face. "Was dancing on one's face the lesson of the day?" asked Wayne, "Or did you finally break down and try asking Yang out in some weird, and likely stupid, way?"

"If I wanted to ask Yang out, I would've brought my guitar," Replied Aegis as he sat down and pulled his acoustic out from under his bed, "And I would've played some romantic tune." Aegis strummed a few notes that sounded like they belonged to some love song.

"I think you'd have more luck with a trumpet," said Wayne as he picked up his muted trumpet, which he had been planning to take to the roof and play. "How's that," asked Aegis, "What's a trumpet got that my old acoustic ain't got?"

"Well for starters," replied Wayne, "You can put a bit of sway into your tune, like so," Wayne played a few notes to an old love song he and Aegis had heard before, "And then you can say a few words in between like, 'This song makes me think of you'."

"Yeah but you don't have to stop playing with a guitar, observe," Aegis pointed out as he started up another tune while he continued speaking, "Come with me girl and I'll take you to a place of pure infatuation-," "That's not a love song," said Wayne, interrupting Aegis, "That's some parody of an old movie song."

"I can make it work," replied Aegis. "Yeah but can you make your guitar sound happy, yet sad at the same time?" Wayne played several high, but slow notes, giving the tune he was playing a somber sound, yet also hopeful sounding, in his opinion.

"You're not paying attention," said Aegis, "The guitar and the singing do both of those things, listen to this." Aegis played several short, quick notes in rapid succession, giving the music a bit of flair as he began singing, "My lady, I ask you toniiiiiight, will you be the one who comes with meeeee. To. The. Dance?"

"That might work," commented Wayne, "If you just-," he was interrupted by a knock at the door. Setting his trumpet down, Wayne walked over and opened the door. "Jaune?" Wayne asked, slightly surprised.

"Hey Wayne, Aegis," Jaune said in a somewhat sheepish tone. "Everything alright?" Wayne asked. "Actually," Jaune said, still sheepishly, "I was wondering if you guys could help me with something, could we talk in your dorm." Wayne moved out of the way, letting Jaune go past before he closed the door.

"What's the problem Jauney?" asked Aegis. "Well you know how you guys are both pretty cool right?" said Jaune. "I don't typically think about it," said Wayne. "I do," said Aegis, "But you look cooler if you don't say it out loud."

"Well I was wondering, if either of you guys know of a cool way to ask a girl out to the dance?" Wayne put his hand on his chin before he spoke, "Well I hate to break it to you Jaune," said Wayne, "But only Aegis can help you there, he's had three, maybe four girlfriends."

"It was only three," said Aegis, "I was just good friends with the last one." "But why can't you help me too?" Jaune asked Wayne. "Well I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, if you could call it that," said Wayne, "I have never actually talked to a girl in a romantic sort of way, heck I've never asked a girl out on a date before."

"Wait you never-," Jaune tried to say with a look of surprise on his face. "Nope," Aegis answered for Wayne, "My big bro here, believe it or not, is actually really shy when it comes to that sort of stuff."

"But how, I mean, you don't seem to have any trouble talking to any of the girls on mine or Ruby's team." "I never said I couldn't talk to a girl," said Wayne, "I could talk, and even tease, a girl for a good long while if we get on the right subject, but actually asking a girl on a date or talking like a romantic," Wayne let his head droop a bit, "I just start thinking too much, and I can't seem to find the right moment, and then I just can't get the words out."

"Wow," said Jaune, "That's just, wow." "But fortunately Aegis is here too," said Wayne, "So at least one of us can give you some pointers." "Ok, well how did you do it Aegis?" asked Jaune. "Well in my experience mister Arc," said Aegis in a professional sounding voice, "I have always vied for the unorthodox approach when asking out a girl on a date or in your case, to a dance."

"Ok, what sort of unorthodox approach, and what does, uh, unorthodox mean?" Asked Jaune. "It means different, or at least not the usual approach," Wayne answered.

"Well," said Aegis, impatient to continue, "How I asked my first girlfriend out was by hanging upside down from a tree she was reading under and offering her flowers, she thought it was cute and accepted." "You also borrowed my wire to hang upside down from the tree," said Wayne.

"Yes and again I thank you for that, point is it worked," Said Aegis. "I'm uh," Jaune rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Not so good with climbing trees, or hanging upside down."

"Well you could also try leaving little love letters in places you know the girl will find them," suggested Aegis, "I left several for my second girlfriend, eventually leaving a trail which led her to the Signal Academy garden, where I asked her out for the first time."

"Yeah I kind of already tried that," said Jaune, "She saw they were from me and tossed them." "That's why you don't sign them," said Aegis, "You're supposed to give them a feeling of mysteriousness."

"Oh, I uh, didn't think about that," Jaune said as he rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Well fortunately I got one more method for you," said Aegis holding up his acoustic, "The serenade." Aegis played a few notes before continuing, "While this is not the most unorthodox method, it has proven to be effective time and again to at least get a girl's attention."

Aegis started playing a slow repetitive rhythm as he spoke, "You see I played outside of the dorm room of my third girlfriend with this very acoustic here, using a song I had improvised myself."

"After making me listen to all the trial and error work," Wayne commented. "Well it worked didn't it?" said Aegis, stopping in mid song, "But in your case Jaune, you should probably stick to playing on ground level, or at least inside if you decide to serenade said lady."

"Well it is something I haven't tried yet," said Jaune, "But I don't have a guitar." A somewhat awkward silence fell over the room, until Aegis finally grunted to get Jaune's attention. "Well I just happen to have an acoustic that I may let someone borrow for a day," said Aegis. "Really, that would be-," Jaune exclaimed, "For a hundred lien," Aegis continued cutting Jaune off.

"Aegis," Wayne said, with a slight edge to his voice. "Alright, twenty lien and I'll throw in a short guitar lesson," Aegis said. Wayne raised his eyebrow at Aegis. "What, I love this guitar," said Aegis, "I'm not gonna let just anyone borrow it without something."

"That's alright, twenty lien I can do," Said Jaune, handing the money over to Aegis. "Alright, now let me teach you a little bit about guitar playing." It took several minutes, but eventually, Jaune was able to play a halfway decent tune on Aegis's guitar.

"Ok," said Aegis, "that should do for tonight, we'll pick this up again tomorrow." "Right," said Jaune, "Thanks guys, I got a good feeling about this one." With that, Jaune headed out of the room.

"You know he's still trying to ask Weiss out right?" said Wayne. "Oh yeah," Replied Aegis. "So you really think this'll work for him?" Wayne asked. "Probably not, but why not give it a shot anyway," Aegis replied. Wayne started putting up his trumpet before his brother spoke again.

"Speaking of asking girls out though," said Aegis, "You given any thought to who you want to ask out?" "Not much," replied Wayne, "Not really sure how I'd go about it anyway." "Well who would you ask out?" asked Aegis. "I don't know," replied Wayne, "Whichever one would say yes."

"What about Pyrrha," asked Aegis. "I mean we both get along just fine as friends," Said Wayne, "And we respect each other's abilities as fighters, but you and I both know she's got her heart set on Jaune, and besides, by the time I work the courage up to ask her, somebody else would likely beat me to it." "Ok, what about Ruby?" asked Aegis.

"That would actually be kind of weird," replied Wayne. "Why?" Aegis inquired. "Well for one, she's like a little sister," said Wayne, "And two, Yang would probably go into protective older sister mode."

"Ok, then Yang maybe," Aegis suggested. "Well that is a possibility," said Wayne, "If it was easy to think while she was around." "Well that's one," said Aegis, becoming silent for several moments. "What about that green-haired transfer student from Haven?" Aegis asked suddenly, "I noticed you've been keeping sort of an eye on her, not that I blame you."

"That's for a completely different reason Aegis," Wayne replied. "You mean you don't think she's hot?" Asked Aegis, quirking his eyebrow. "Oh she definitely is," replied Wayne "But that's not the reason I'm keeping an eye on her, well not the only reason anyway."

"Then what is the reason?" Aegis asked. "There's something about her and her teammates," said Wayne, "The first day they arrived, I told you I swore I smelled blood on one or all of them."

"Well to be fair," said Aegis, "You and I have both shown up to a few places smelling like Grimm." "I know, but this wasn't Grimm I was smelling on them, it was blood from something or someone," Said Wayne. "Hey I've had a good sniff or two of them myself," said Aegis, "Especially of that dark-haired one, but they haven't caused any trouble so far."

"I know I'm probably just being paranoid, it's just-," Wayne tried to think of what to say. "Well maybe you should just talk to her one way or the other," said Aegis, "But tomorrow, when we're all awake." "You're probably right Aegis," said Wayne as he laid back on his bed, "I guess I'll have to give it a shot one way or the other." But what to do, thought Wayne, and what if she does turn out to be evil. Questions continued to float through Wayne's head until he finally drifted off to sleep.

 **Hello again everyone, hope you're enjoying the holidays. First I'd like to say sorry if this came out slightly late, but as I explained it's the holidays, which keeps us all busy. As for the chapter, don't worry, the action will pick up a little again as Wayne finally gets around to confronting a certain mischievous female. And to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers I'd like to say thank you and Merry Christmas.**


	18. Dancing with Sickles and Chains

**Dancing with Sickles and Chains**

Beacon Locker Room: The Next Day

This feels a little unusual, thought Wayne, as he wandered around the locker room. While the locker room wasn't unusual to the rest of the student body, Wayne rarely had a reason to visit it, except when he was walking and talking with friends. The reason of course being that his weapons were, due to Wayne's slight paranoia, almost always with him, even if it was against school policy to carry weapons in certain places around the school. Wayne had even purposefully gotten his school uniform jacket a size or two too large for him to button up the jacket of the uniform without showing the bulges of his weapons in his shoulder holsters. Today, however, was probably going to be a bit more of an unusual day. Wayne had headed straight for the locker room after his and Aegis's second class, when they had a bit of a free period.

Any other time Aegis might have been curious about what Wayne was up to, but today Aegis had his own plans, most of which involved him, a guitar and/or obscure prop, and a fortunate, or unfortunate, girl. Good luck you crazy ball of fur, Wayne thought, you'll probably have more luck asking a girl to the dance than me. Wayne shook those thoughts from his head as he tried to focus on the real reason he was here. Wayne turned another corner, just in time to see the person he'd been looking for close her locker and head towards the exit. Ok, thought Wayne, just be confident, don't try to say too much at once, just be yourself, and for # #'s sake, try not to stare anywhere you shouldn't.

Wayne controlled his pace, approaching her from behind slowly and silently. Wayne took note of where her weapons, a pair of large revolver-like guns, were, but of course they both had to be hanging in an 'X' shape in holsters on her lower back, just above her-. "Enjoying the view," she said, suddenly turning around with a look of both amusement and annoyance. "Hmm," Wayne responded as he looked up at the green-haired girl. She was wearing a different outfit than the school uniform Wayne had first seen her in. Right now she was wearing a mostly white outfit which left most of her stomach, and a good portion of her chest, exposed, with brown chaps on her legs, and two white pieces of cloth which covered her neck. Her back was also covered by her white clothing with a black emerald symbol on the back.

"Were you planning on staring at my ## today?" asked the green-haired girl. "I wasn't planning on staring at anything," replied Wayne, "I was actually examining your weapons, although you do have a great ## in case you were wondering." "I wasn't, but thanks anyway," replied the green-haired girl.

"You know it's partially your fault if you thought I was checking you out," said Wayne, "You could've hung those guns on your waist or your legs, but no, you opted for lower back." "I happen to find them comfortable there," replied the green-haired girl, "Got a problem with that?"

"No problem at all," Replied Wayne, "I'm just saying every holster position has its ups and downs." "Oh, and where do you holster your weapons?" asked the green-haired girl. "In a comfortable spot where I can get to them easily," replied Wayne.

"Well since you're not a fan of lower back, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess shoulder holsters," Said the green-haired girl. "So you have been paying attention when we're in combat class," Said Wayne. "I've only seen you use your weapons once so far," said the green-haired girl, "That was about the only time one of your fights was interesting enough to watch."

"Now my hand to hand skills couldn't have been that bad," said Wayne. "No, it was just obvious how much more skilled you were than some of your other opponents, which made it kind of boring," She replied.

"Well maybe I could make it a bit more interesting for you," said Wayne. "Oh," she inquired with a raised eyebrow. "How about next combat class, I challenge you to a match," said Wayne, "If I win, you tell me a bit more about yourself." "And if you lose," She asked.

"Then I'll tell you whatever you want to know about me, or I'll do one thing of your choice, within reason of course," responded Wayne. The green-haired girl looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Alright, I'll agree to go along with this little bet, on one condition, you tell me why you've suddenly decided to talk to me after all the secretive glances you've been throwing at me since I got here."

"Oh, so you found me out," said Wayne, trying to sound innocent while rubbing the back of his head, "It's actually a really dumb reason, you see for one I was afraid I weirded you out with that sniffing thing the first day you were here, but more importantly, I'm actually really shy." The green-haired girl crossed her arms as a slight frown crossed her face.

"Is that the only reason?" She asked. "Well I could list several other reasons," said Wayne, "But you're gonna have to beat those out of me." "Fair enough," she said, "I suppose I'll find out soon enough anyway." "But come to think of it, I have a question as well," said Wayne, "If we're going to be beating the living daylights out of each other, we should at least know each other's names." The green-haired girl smirked a little, but before she could respond, another voice rang out from down the hall.

"Hey, we need to get to class," said a Silver-haired boy, "You can flirt later." "Gosh I hate it when he does that," said the green-haired girl as she turned to leave, "But, at least I have something to look forward to now." "I'll see you in class," said Wayne as he turned and headed back to the locker room to retrieve his combat outfit. Let's see what you can do, Wayne thought, I'm looking forward to it too.

Ms. Goodwitch's Combat Class

It didn't take Wayne long to get changed into his usual combat attire, and as usual, he took a seat next to team RWBY and Aegis when the class began. "Alright," said Ms. Goodwitch, "Let's get started, do we have any volunteers for our first match?" Wayne raised his hand. "Now Aegis we've been-, oh, well this is something of a surprise Wayne." Said Goodwitch.

"Well I'm just in the mood for a fight today," Said Wayne as he made his way to the arena, "That's assuming of course my sparring partner still feels up to it." Everyone looked confused for a moment until the green-haired girl stood up. "Just don't bore me," she said as she also made her way to the arena. The two fighters stood across from each other in the sparring ring as Wayne donned his helmet and took his usual fighting stance, while his opponent let her hands hover near her weapons on her lower back.

Alright, Wayne thought, just like every other fight, remember your training, keep focused, and keep your eyes open for your opponent's weak spots. In another moment, the starting bell for the match sounded, and Wayne and his opponent both drew their weapons as quickly as they could and opened fire at each other. Wayne dodged out of the way as green energy bullets flew past his head, while his opponent flipped out of the path of Wayne's own blue dust bullets. Wayne continued firing while bobbing and weaving from left to right as his opponent gracefully flipped and spun, slowly closing the gap between them while still dodging Wayne's bullets.

When the distance between them was only a few feet, Wayne jumped forward and rolled as his opponent leaped over his head. Wayne quickly switched his Crescent Fangs to sickle form and spun around slashing at his opponent, only for his weapons to clang against another set of blades. Wayne slashed horizontally and vertically with both sickles, causing small sparks to fly as his weapons clashed with his opponents again and again. Eventually, Wayne clashed and held his weapons against his opponent's weapons before forcing her back a few feet, while Wayne stepped back to give himself some breathing room.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," They both exclaimed when they saw each other's weapons. Wayne's opponent also had a pair of sickles, although these were green and more curved than Wayne's, they still followed a similar design to Wayne's own Crescent Fangs. After a moment, Wayne got over the shock. "Ok, now we really have something to talk about," Said Wayne. "We'll see," she said with a smile. They charged each other again, Wayne swung with his right weapon, then his left, both times his weapons collided with his opponent's as they both spun and slashed at each other's head and midsections, clashing their weapons together multiple times. His opponent suddenly spun in the opposite direction, while Wayne did the same, attaching his wires to his weapons and swinging them outward several feet.

But once again, his weapons impacted against his opponent's, this time in midair as she swung her sickle blades on a pair of chains which extended from her weapons before reeling back in. Wayne reeled his own weapons back in and charged, slashing low and high, but hitting only air the first time as his opponent flipped out of the way, and then her weapons the second time as she managed to block both of Wayne's sickles with her own. This is getting ridiculous, thought Wayne, his opponent was just as fast as him and certainly more agile, but what was truly strange to Wayne was her fighting style.

Ever since the match had begun, she'd matched him move for move, not just in technique but form as well, almost as if she knew his moves, or rather they both had similar moves. Let's test something, Wayne thought, as he began another series of attacks, this time incorporating a few kicks. Once again, she seemed to use the same movements as their weapons met once again, but this time Wayne used a high roundhouse kick aimed at her head, which was met by a roundhouse of her own. Wayne spun around with a spinning back kick, which was met by another spinning back kick, as they both flipped away and landed several feet from each other. Wayne started to circle, this time seriously studying his opponent's form, noting how she stood, the placement of her weapons, and her footwork.

"Your fighting style," Wayne said, "Where did you learn it?" "Now now," she replied with a smirk, "You haven't won this fight yet." "True enough," Wayne said with a slight smirk of his own under his helmet, "We did make a bet after all." With that, they charged each other again, slashing and cutting at each other, and this time they even tried switching their weapons between sickle and gun form, with Wayne knocking her gun aside while she dodged out of the way of his SMG. Wayne tried using his other SMG, only for it to be kicked off target, while his opponent switched her other weapon back to gun from, which Wayne also kicked off target, causing green bullets to go speeding past only a few inches from his head.

Wayne tried every form he knew as they spun, leaped, and danced around each other's attacks with neither of them scoring a single hit. At times they would lock their weapons together, one time Wayne even attempted a head butt, only for his opponent to spin out of the way and try slashing for Wayne's head, which he ducked and slashed back, only to hit empty air as they both leaped away from each other once again. I'm not getting anywhere with this, thought Wayne as they circled each other again, I guess there's only one thing to do now. Wayne began focusing the energy of his semblance into his right weapon, trying to keep it at a fairly low amount.

Wayne waited for his opponent to charge again and instead of blocking, Wayne spun out of the way and swung his weapon towards his opponent, releasing a wave of blue energy. His opponent just managed to get her weapons up in time to block the blow of his sickle, but the force of the energy still sent her flying back as she hit the floor, rolled twice, and flipped back up, a surprised look now covering her face.

"So you've decided to stop holding back," she said with a sudden smirk, "This is getting more fun by the second." "If you really feel like having fun," said Wayne, "Then you should stop holding back too." "Oh so you noticed," she said, trying to sound innocent. "Emerald," said the silver-haired boy from the audience, "Don't overdo it." A hint of anger crossed her face.

"I know alright," she said, "I'm just having a little bit of fun." She suddenly switched her weapons back to their gun form and holstered them. "Unfortunately I can't show you my semblance today," she said, "So I forfeit." Wayne was taken aback for a moment, "You what now?" "Your semblance is obviously powerful and my own semblance takes time to use properly," she said, "So there's not a lot of point in continuing the match." "In that case," said Ms. Goodwitch, "Wayne Ursario is the winner." "So that's your name," she said. "And yours is Emerald-?" Wayne asked. "Sustrai," Emerald replied, "Emerald Sustrai." "Well," said Wayne as he holstered his weapons and removed his helmet, "It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Emerald Sustrai."

Back in the Stands

"So you mean to tell me that you're not exactly human," Emerald said as they watched the next match up, Pyrrha against all of team CRDL. "I'm half-human," replied Wayne, "My father is human and my mother is a bear faunus." "Though Wayne's probably half-human, half teddy bear," said Yang, from several seats over.

"I just prefer being a nice guy is all," said Wayne, shooting a look at Yang. "Is that why you like to sniff random strangers when they walk by?" asked Emerald. "Only the ones that smell nice," replied Wayne, "Or interesting." "What qualifies as interesting?" asked Emerald. "Wasn't I supposed to be the one asking questions?" said Wayne.

"Well you haven't asked any questions yet," Emerald replied. "That's because you've been asking questions," said Wayne. "Well ask away," said Emerald, "I suppose you did win the bet." "Ok let's start with-," "Ok," said Miss Goodwitch from the arena. Pyrrha had managed to win her fight without too much difficulty as the members of team CRDL picked themselves up off the floor and walked out of the sparring ring.

"Now I know that's a tough act to follow but we still have time for one more sparring match, any volunteers." Miss Goodwitch didn't give them long to answer before calling on Blake, who was nearly falling asleep reading a book. "I'll do it," said the Silver-haired boy, whose name was Mercury, according to Emerald. "Mercury is it," said Miss Goodwitch, "Very well, let's find you an opponent." "Actually," Mercury said with his hand to his chin, "I want to fight her."

"Me," said Pyrrha, obviously surprised. "I'm afraid Ms. Nikos has just finished a match, you'll have to find another opponent," Said Miss Goodwitch. "No it's fine," said Pyrrha, "I'll be happy to oblige." Wayne didn't finish asking his question as he and the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR grew silent, all of them eager to see how this transfer student would do against Pyrrha. Wayne was especially interested to see what this Mercury guy's fighting style was, because he was sure now that the one who smelled like blood on the first day Emerald's team walked in was him.

Mercury attacked using specialized boots which held dust rounds to increase the power of his kicks, which while fast and powerful, were still not enough to get through Pyrrha's shield and sword, at least, not at first. Mercury's attacks were fairly straightforward, with several roundhouse and sweep kicks, all of which Pyrrha either blocked or dodged. Something's not right, Wayne thought, he's obviously skilled but he's not really pressing any sort of seriously aggressive attack. It was at this point that Mercury had seen some sort of weakness in Pyrrha's defenses when she threw her sword up and blocked one of his boots with her right wrist. When Pyrrha caught her sword again, Mercury unleashed a volley of kicks which impacted upon her shield, with the last one knocking Pyrrha's sword out of her hand.

Fortunately, Pyrrha managed to step back enough, or so it seemed, to dodge Mercury's next kick, causing him to stumble a little and go into a kneeling position. As good with your semblance as ever, Wayne thought, having barely seen Pyrrha's hand guiding the boot with her polarity semblance. When Pyrrha charged again, Mercury kicked off her shield with both boots firing, sending him several feet away from Pyrrha.

"I forfeit," Mercury said, forcing Pyrrha to slow down to avoid running into him. Wayne was so focused on Mercury explaining how he and Pyrrha were obviously leagues apart in skill, that he missed the sly smile which crossed Emerald's face. The class bell sounded then, with Goodwitch announcing that the dance was this weekend, but their first mission was on Monday. Wayne wasn't listening to the rest of the announcement as he and his friends all stood up and started heading out of the classroom.

"I guess we'll have to do this another time," said Wayne, "I got some not so pleasant business that needs attending to." "Well maybe next time," said Emerald as she turned to leave. "Looking forward to it," Said Wayne as he headed out with team RWBY. As they headed out the door, Sun suddenly walked over, attempting to ask Blake out to the dance. But Blake, who had been in a sour mood for a while now thanks to lack of sleep, simply responded saying she didn't have time for a stupid dance, and walked off muttering about how Sun, of all people, should've understood that.

"She still not sleeping much," Wayne asked Ruby as Blake walked away. "No," replied Ruby, "And I'm worried about her." "We all are," said Yang. "Have you attempted to talk to her about it?" asked Wayne.

"Me and Weiss have kind of tried but," Yang trailed off. "She's being difficult," said Aegis, "And ya'll call me stubborn." "Well you have yet to pursue something that's made you lose sleep," Said Wayne. "Well no matter how much I get worked up about something there's no reason to lose a good night's sleep over it," Said Aegis. "I doubt you'd lose any sleep if you tried," said Weiss. Aegis was about to respond before Wayne cut in.

"So have you all tried convincing her together?" Asked Wayne. "That's probably what it's gonna take," said Ruby. "We'll get to her," said Weiss, "But first thing's first." "What is it?" Wayne asked Weiss. "We've been asked to set up the whole rest of the dance," said Weiss. "So I need your help with a few things." Weiss didn't wait for Wayne to answer as she grabbed his coat and pulled him away, but not towards the dorms. She was pulling him towards the landing platform for the airships.

City of Vale: Fancy Clothing Store

"Tell me exactly how this is supposed to help anyone but you with the dance?" Asked Wayne as he waited for Weiss to exit the dressing room. "Me and Yang are going to be playing the part of hostesses at the dance," replied Weiss, "And good hostesses must look their absolute best." "I understand that," said Wayne, "What I mean is why do you need me here with you to decide what to wear?"

"The thought simply occurred to me that a second opinion from a boy could prove, somewhat, helpful," Weiss replied as she stepped out of the dressing room. "Since when do you care what a guy thinks about you," Asked Wayne with his arms crossed, "In fact last I checked, my opinion wasn't very high on your list."

"While it's true that your opinion isn't very high on my list, you have made one or two good points from time to time," said Weiss, "But mostly, you're here because who better to know what a boy likes on a girl than a boy, now, how do I look." Wayne looked over the white dress Weiss had picked out, not really finding anything wrong with it as she did a quick turn so Wayne could see the whole dress. "Well?" Weiss asked.

"I suits you pretty well," said Wayne. "But is it the best one?" Weiss asked. Wayne nearly rolled his eyes, this being the fifth dress he'd been asked about. "It'll be more than good enough for the dance," said Wayne, "And I'm pretty sure whatever guy you're trying to impress will love it."

"What makes you think I'm trying to impress a guy?" Asked Weiss. "Well for starters," Said Wayne, "The fact that not only are you asking a guy's opinion on something, but the fact that you're asking my opinion when there are at least two or three other guys you could've asked to help you with this." "You were the best option under the circumstances," replied Weiss as she stepped back into the dressing room.

"I'm aware you're not fond of Aegis or Jaune," said Wayne, "But you could still have asked Ren, or Neptune, or even Sun." "I doubt that monkey Faunus would've taken this seriously, and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about him as a person, and Ren is busy helping Nora do exactly what we're doing," Replied Weiss. "And Neptune?" Wayne asked.

"Oh he doesn't need to be bothered by this," Said Weiss, growing noticeably redder, "I'm sure he's busy right now." "No I think he's standing over there," said Wayne pointing behind Weiss. "Is he, I mean I don't want him to see-," Weiss turned around quickly, in a slight panic. "Oh you are insufferable," she fumed as she realized no one was over there and turned back to Wayne with her cheeks puffed out in frustration. "Well here's an opinion from this particular guy," said Wayne, who couldn't help but smirk a little, "One, learn to take a joke, and two, you look cute when you puff your checks up like that." Weiss punched Wayne in the arm as she picked up her dress and headed for the check out. "I'm just saying, Neptune will probably say the same thing," Wayne called after her. "Let's just go," Weiss said, still fuming a little. Hope she doesn't take that too personally, thought Wayne as he followed after her.

Beacon Academy: A Little While Later

Weiss made it pretty clear on the way back that Wayne was not to say anything to Neptune, or anyone else really, about Weiss liking the blue-haired boy. Wayne, not really wanting to risk getting his hand frozen again, or any other part of his body for that matter, gave Weiss his word for the second time, though not without another silly remark that earned him a glare from the heiress. After they returned to Beacon, and after Wayne helped Weiss carry her purchases back up to the dorms, Wayne noticed that his brother was nowhere to be found.

Now what're you doing, thought Wayne as he grabbed one of Aegis's spare boots and took a quick whiff of it. "Ah # ## ," Wayne said out loud at the revolting scent, "Wash your feet more often Aegis." Well it's gross but it'll work, thought Wayne as he followed his brother's scent out the door, kneeling down every so often to get a better sense of direction of the scent. Wayne followed the scent all the way through the hall, down the stairs, and outside of the dorms.

Wayne tried once or twice to call Aegis on his scroll, but got nothing in response as he continued to follow Aegis's scent all over the campus. What were you doing, Wayne thought until he came upon another familiar scent under one of the campus trees next to the sidewalk where he smelled another familiar scent, Ruby Rose. Wayne was getting curious now as he followed the two scents around the fountain and towards one of the many training areas, kneeling down once again to get a good scent.

While Wayne was rubbing the ground and sniffing his hand, he suddenly heard a pair of heeled shoes on the stone sidewalk. At first Wayne didn't think anything about it, until they came closer and closer with each step. Wayne instinctively gripped the weapon in his left holster with his right hand as he recognized the scent of who it was approaching.

"Can I help you," asked Wayne as he stood up to face the newcomer, Emerald Sustrai. "If I'm not interrupting anything, I believe I still have a bet that needs to be settled," Emerald said. "Oh right," said Wayne, "Well I suppose now's as good a time as any, if you don't mind walking and talking that is."

"Why not, it's a nice day," Emerald replied as she fell into step with Wayne, who'd started walking in the direction of the training areas. "So what would you like to know?" She asked. "Well as I said earlier, and if it's not too personal, where exactly did you learn your fighting style?" Asked Wayne.

"My master taught me of course," Replied Emerald, "But it's not something I like to talk about, his training was a bit intense to say the least." "The kind of training which'll give you nightmares," asked Wayne, "Or the kind of training which makes you realize just how much pain you could cause?"

"A bit of both I guess," Replied Emerald, "I think about how I started compared to what I am now, and what I had to do to get here," Emerald trailed off a bit, losing herself a bit in her thoughts before finishing, "Some days it's a little surreal." "I think I can kind of relate," Said Wayne, pulling out his own weapon and examining it in the sunlight, "When I started training with my weapons at Signal Academy, my master was a pain in the # , a real piece of philosophical work, but he knew how to train a huntsman."

Wayne let out a short laugh as he remembered his dusty old Teacher, before speaking again, "Looking at where I am now though, I guess he knew what he was doing." The pair walked in silence for a moment as they entered the training area, before Wayne asked another question. "So you're weapons, mind if I take a look at one of them?" Asked Wayne.

"Now that might be asking a bit much for me to just let someone I hardly know see my weapons," She replied. "How about this," Wayne said as he flipped Crescent Fang around in his hand and presented it to Emerald with the handle facing her, "You show me yours and I'll show you mine."

Emerald thought for a moment before pulling out one of her revolvers, "Just this once, and you only get to see one." "Fair enough," replied Wayne as he accepted her weapon while handing his to her. Wayne examined the body of the weapon, feeling the distribution of its weight and balance, her weapon was larger in its gun form than Wayne's was, but about the same weight. Wayne hit one of the switches on the wall for the training targets as he began twirling the weapon in his right hand. As soon as one of the training targets popped up, Wayne quickly gripped the weapon by its handle and fired, destroying the target with a green energy bullet.

Several more targets popped up and were quickly destroyed as Wayne continued firing the weapon, until the last one popped up. Wayne quickly shifted the weapon to its sickle form and swung, extending the chain link and slicing the target diagonally in half, before reeling in the chain and switching the weapon back to its gun form.

"Not bad," said Wayne, "It pulls a bit to the left for me, though." "Move," said Emerald as she got into position for the second round of targets. Emerald fired Wayne's weapon, the fully automatic fire taking her by surprise for a moment, as she mowed down each and every target with an incredible efficiency. When the last target popped up once again, Emerald switched Wayne's weapon to its sickle form and threw it into the very center of the target. "You're weapon's not half bad either," she said as Wayne handed her weapon back to her, "Although the lack of chain link is a bit irritating, but I guess that's what the wires up your sleeves are for."

"You got me," said Wayne as he tossed his wrist wire around the handle of his weapon and pulled it back into his hand, "I was going for versatility with my weapon set, what about you?"

"Mostly lethal killing efficiency," she said with a somewhat mischievous smirk. "Funny, you don't seem the type to go in for the quick kill," Said Wayne. "Oh, and what would you say my type is?" She asked.

"You seem to me more like the type to play with your opponents a little, before taking them out," Said Wayne. "Only if I'm in the mood," She replied, "Did I give that much away in one fight?" "Not really," Replied Wayne, "I was mostly just guessing from our fight, and that mischievous smile of yours."

"Oh what can I say," Said Emerald, "I've never been much of a good girl." "Is that why you hang around with ember lady and happy feet?" Asked Wayne. "They're my team," replied Emerald, "You don't exactly choose who you work with in Haven, but you already know how that is don't you?"

Wayne was about to say something else, until he heard a familiar voice yelling from one training room over. "Good technique," Yelled Ruby, "But you got to be more precise." "Yes I know exactly how it is," Said Wayne as he proceeded to the next training room, one of the sparring arenas. Wayne and Emerald found Ruby sparring with, surprisingly, Aegis, of all people. Aegis had shaped his glass semblance into a scythe-like blade on the end of his weapon and was wielding it in a similar form to Ruby, with a lot less jumping around of course.

"Ok, try the second set of moves again," said Ruby as she readied her own scythe, Crescent Rose. Aegis brought Ursus's Cleaver down in a series of vertical strikes, which Ruby parried with her scythe, then flipping away from Aegis's last horizontal strike.

"He seemed a lot better in the class," Whispered Emerald as they both watched Aegis go into another series of strikes against Ruby. "He's not terribly familiar with how to use a scythe," replied Wayne, "But you're also witnessing a rare event." "How is that guy sparring rare?" asked Emerald.

"Aegis is actually holding his strikes back, a lot, something he struggled to do, or at least wouldn't do, even when he was training under a personal teacher." "He had a personal teacher?" asked Emerald as Ruby began her own series of strikes, which Aegis either blocked or evaded.

"Yep," Replied Wayne, "Aegis cared so little about holding back that he repeatedly tore up multiple training areas back at Signal, to the point where he was assigned a teacher for the sole purpose of teaching him restraint and control." "So why is he learning how to-, oh, that figures," Said Emerald with an amused look on her face. "If I had to guess, he either has something on his mind, or he truly wants to know how to use a scythe, which I actually kind of doubt," Said Wayne.

"Well we'd best go," said Wayne, grabbing Emerald by the arm and lightly pulling her away. "Hey what're you-," Wayne held a hand up to Emerald's mouth. "They haven't seen us yet, so it's best if we slip back out, quietly," said Wayne as he pulled her back outside of the training area, enough to where they couldn't see Aegis or Ruby, but still within earshot of the sparring arena.

"What're we doing here?" Emerald quietly exclaimed. "We're waiting," said Wayne as he leaned against the wall. "Waiting for what?" she asked in a furious whisper. "For the noise to stop," Replied Wayne. "Well why do we have to wait out here?" Emerald exclaimed again, "I doubt they'll care if we watch."

"Aegis will care," said Wayne, "If he's going to do what I think he's going to do, he'd prefer it if I weren't present." "What, he afraid you're going to distract him or something?" Asked Emerald. "Mostly he doesn't want me ruining the moment," Replied Wayne.

"The Moment?" she repeated with obvious confusion. Wayne listened for a second before answering, noting that the sound of clashing metal had stopped. "See for yourself," said Wayne as he slowly poked his head around the corner enough to see Aegis and Ruby. They had both returned their weapons to their holstered positions and Ruby appeared to be giving Aegis some pointers on his technique when her scroll started ringing. Ruby pulled out her scroll and read the message, before hastily returning the scroll to her pocket, telling Aegis that she had to get going. Before she could leave, though, Aegis stopped her and spoke to her in the most sincere, and quiet voice, Wayne had ever heard his brother use. A look of amazement crossed Ruby's suddenly red face as she seemed to be conflicted on how to answer Aegis.

Finally, though, she took a deep breath and gave Aegis her answer. Aegis responded by giving her a big hug and spinning her around a few times, while Ruby let out a surprised yelp, before laughing along with Aegis. Eventually Aegis set Ruby down and she headed out of the training room, happily waving back at Aegis as she passed Wayne and Emerald without noticing them.

"Ok you can come in now," said Aegis as Wayne poked his head back in. "How did he know we were here?" Asked Emerald. "I smelled the both of you right before you left the training room," Replied Aegis as Wayne and Emerald walked in. "And you have good hearing too," Emerald whispered. "We both have good hearing," said Wayne as Aegis walked off the sparring arena to meet them.

"So this must be that girl from Haven you've had your eye on," Said Aegis. "Don't say it like that," said Wayne, "It sounds like I'm some sort of stalker." "You mean you haven't been keeping a close eye on me and my team?" Said Emerald. "Well let's be honest, what guy wouldn't want to keep a close eye on you Emerald," said Wayne, "Between the lovely eyes and mischievous smile, I'm actually surprised you don't have more guys after you."

"Most guys probably just think I'm dangerous," said Emerald, "In fact thanks to you and our little sparring match, now every guy at this academy will probably think I'm dangerous." "Makes it easier for when the dance rolls around," said Aegis, "Fewer love struck guys to deal with for you."

"Speaking of which," said Wayne, "I think there's something you need to tell me." "Well there is actually," said Aegis, "I did it, I asked a girl out to the dance and she said yes!" "So you did ask Ruby?" said Wayne. "Yeah, I told her that neither of us should be going to our first big event at Beacon alone and, after a little convincing, she said yes!" Aegis continued excitedly.

"By convincing, you don't mean you bribed her with cookies or something did you?" asked Wayne. "Well I may have promised one or two for the heck of it," said Aegis. "You don't find it kind of weird though," said Wayne, "She's like a little sister, not just to Yang but to you and me."

"Me and Ruby are the same age, remember," said Aegis. "Yeah but you're turning sixteen soon and you're a bit tall for your age, and for your older brother," Commented Wayne. "Wait you two are brothers?" asked Emerald. "Yeah, and before you ask, neither of us is adopted," Said Aegis, "Wayne carries the paperwork to prove it."

"You carry paperwork to tell people that you two are biological brothers?" Emerald asked Wayne. "Biological brothers that are half-bear faunus, one with all the bear features and one without any," Said Wayne, "You would not believe the number of people who didn't believe we were actual brothers."

"Though if you look really really closely at Wayne's teeth," said Aegis, "And his eyes you can just make out a few animalistic features." "Oh," said Emerald. "No really take a look," said Aegis, pushing Emerald to where she was hardly a foot from Wayne's face.

"Aegis," Wayne whispered in irritation. "No wait," said Emerald as she stared at Wayne's eyes, "I think I can see what you're talking about-," Suddenly Emerald's scroll started ringing. Wayne and Emerald backed up from each other, finally breaking eye contact.

"Oh great," said Emerald as she looked at the message on her scroll, "I have to get going." "That happy feet dude pestering you again," Asked Aegis.

"No it's Cinder," Replied Emerald, "The team needs to meet for a study session." "That's alright, we have a few things we need to take care of anyway," said Wayne as he held out his hand, "'til next time then?"

"I might actually be looking forward to that," said Emerald as she shook Wayne's hand, then turned and proceeded to head out of the training area.

"So you gonna take a shot at her then?" Asked Aegis as soon as Emerald was out of earshot. "What," Wayne said, surprised, "I only talked to her about two times and we barely know anything about each other." "So," Aegis asked as they made their way out of the training area, "Doesn't mean you can't ask her to the dance."

"You remember the reason I was keeping an eye on her team in the first place right?" Said Wayne. "Yeah yeah, you smelled blood or something on one or all of them," said Aegis, "But with all the transfer students and everything coming in, there's no telling what kinds of smells you're gonna find, and besides, if you ask her out or to the dance that just means you get a better chance to keep an eye on her."

"You amaze me sometimes you know that," said Wayne, "That's possibly one of the most naïve things you've ever said." "You never know," said Aegis, "You're the one that keeps saying we should give people a chance." "Yes, but I've also told you the reason why I keep my weapons with me nearly all the time," Replied Wayne. "You keep being that paranoid and you'll never get a girl," Said Aegis.

"Well why don't you ask her out then," Said Wayne. "Uh, I already asked Ruby to the dance," Replied Aegis. "Yeah, but is that a one-time thing or are you actually gonna try dating her?" Wayne asked. "That's still kind of up in the air," said Aegis, "But right now shouldn't you be more concerned with who you're going to ask out to the dance?"

"Well between schoolwork, researching the White Fang, learning how to ballroom dance, and also helping Weiss and Yang set up the dance, I haven't really had time to, and I haven't really thought about it either," replied Wayne. "Remember what dad told us," said Aegis, "There's more to life than the next assignment, I believe he told you that more than me when you were kind of doing the same thing at Signal."

"I remember," said Wayne as they made their way into the dorm and started heading up the stairs. As they got up to their floor, Wayne checked the time on his scroll, noting that it was nearly time for him to head over for another dance lesson with Weiss. Wayne returned his scroll to his pocket just in time to move out of the way as Blake brushed past him and Aegis. "Hey Blake what's-," Aegis didn't have time to finish his sentence as Blake quickly headed down the hall and to the stairs.

"She's working too hard," said Wayne. "Yeah but she doesn't want to listen to reason," said Aegis. That's the problem, thought Wayne, she's been this way ever since the investigation where they wound up fighting that Atlesian Paladin and she's at the point where she can't hardly keep her eyes open in class. Wayne was still thinking about what to do about Blake when he and Aegis got to their dorm that is until Jaune walked up to team RWBY's dorm holding Aegis's acoustic guitar and started knocking on the door.

I can't watch this, thought Wayne as he and Aegis entered their dorm room. "Hey when he's done could you let him know I need my acoustic back," said Aegis as the sound of an acoustic, and Jaune's not so lovely voice filled the hallway. "Why can't you tell him?" Asked Wayne.

"I got weapon maintenance to do, and besides, this is about the time you go learn dancing etiquette from the white #$#$," Said Aegis. "You really don't need to keep calling her that," said Wayne, "She's not near the pain she was last semester."

"Yeah sure," said Aegis, "If you say so." Wayne would've said more, but he noticed that Jaune had stopped playing the guitar in the hallway and decided to poke his head out to see a very dejected looking Jaune still standing at team RWBY's door.

"Hey if you're done, Aegis needs his acoustic back," Said Wayne as he went back out into the hall. "Yeah sure," said Jaune as he handed Wayne the acoustic and walked back to his dorm, looking like a depressed dog with its tail between its legs. "Hey it's not all bad," said Wayne, "Maybe you could ask another girl to the dance and see if it makes her jealous."

"Not now Wayne," said Jaune as he headed back into his dorm. You tried, thought Wayne as he headed back over and set the acoustic in his and Aegis's dorm, but some girls are harder to get than others. Wayne closed the door to the dorm room and started heading back down the hallway. He had just passed team RWBY's door when it opened and Weiss slid out, closing the door behind her.

"Ah, there you are Wayne," Weiss said, "Well we'd best get this over with." "You make it sound like torture," said Wayne as he and Weiss started walking down the hall. "There are worse things," said Weiss, "But the last thing I expected to be doing at this academy was teaching someone how to ballroom dance."

"Well life is full of surprises," said Wayne, "Not all of them are pleasant." "Well that being said, you are also going to need to uphold your end of the deal, because there are some major preparations that need to be made tomorrow," Said Weiss. "Just teach me how to ballroom dance and I'll help you with whatever you need," said Wayne, "I gave my word and I intend to stick by it."

"Don't forget to keep that brother of yours under control at the dance," said Weiss. "Like I told you I'll do the best I can, but that's the one thing I can't guarantee," Said Wayne.

The Dorm of Emerald, Cinder, and Neo

"Next, we have Aegis Ursario," said Emerald as she flipped to an image of the half-bear faunus. "The cleaving bear I believe," said Cinder. "He's strong, but he has a fairly straightforward fighting style, and tends to overdo it with his attacks," said Mercury.

"The only real problem is that weapon of his," Said Emerald. "How so," asked Cinder. "His semblance is glass, but unlike Neo he can only create solid structures, which wouldn't be so bad," Said Emerald. "Except for the part where his weapon pumps dust into his semblance, the White Fang Lieutenant found that out the hard way," said Mercury, "Makes all those glass constructs of his twice as deadly."

"Hmm, that does pose a bit of a problem," said Cinder, "Best add him to the list, just in case." Emerald tapped a few keys and added Aegis's name to an ever growing list. "The next one I believe also warrants concern," said Emerald, "Aegis's big brother Wayne Ursario."

"I still can't believe those two are related," said Mercury. "Even their titles are quite different," said Cinder, "If I recall, they've started calling him the crescent wolf."

"He's earned whatever name they've given him," said Emerald. "Wasn't he the guy that sniffed your back when we got here, and challenged you to a match?" asked Mercury.

"Ah yes," said Cinder, "Tell me why might he have done that?" "I'm not saying for sure, but either he's suspicious of us for some reason, or-," Emerald started to say.

"Or maybe he just wants to sniff the rest of you," Said Mercury. "Oh will you quit it with that already," Emerald exclaimed, glaring at Mercury.

"Now now," said Cinder, "You two can argue later, for now tell me what he's capable of." "Right, well he's got a lot more restraint than his little brother, and oddly enough, he picked up a very similar style to mine, he even uses similar weapons," explained Emerald. "Is it possible he's just as good as you?" Asked Mercury.

"Hard to say," Replied Emerald, "We were both holding back, and all I saw of his semblance was one energy burst he used to increase the power of his strikes, but I did hear that he held his own against Neo." "He's officially listed as using energy projection as his semblance," Said Mercury.

"So we're not sure how much of a threat he might actually be," Said Cinder. "When I tried accessing some of his and Aegis's old records, I found out that both he and Aegis had transferred schools from Signal to Sanctum shortly after an incident," Said Emerald.

"What sort of incident?" Asked Mercury. "The official records were sealed," said Emerald, "But I found other reports around that same day about a damaged building and an entire airship being downed because its engines had taken damage from an energy wave that was apparently sent out from the direction of Signal, and that shortly after that both of them had been transferred to Sanctum."

"Perhaps there's a reason he's holding back then," said Cinder, "Add him to the list." Emerald sent Wayne's data into the file of names on the list. "And Emerald," said Cinder, "We can't have anyone nosing about who may suspect us and since he's only talked to you so far, I want you to throw him off the trail however you can, so you may have to be a bit more charming than usual."

"But can't we just," Emerald tried to protest. "Unfortunately no, a dead or missing student would only draw more suspicion where we don't need it," said Cinder, "So give him a smile and show him that you're an innocent girl who couldn't possibly be involved in anything he'd consider sinister." "Remember to sway those hips a little," Mercury teased. "Shut up," Emerald seethed.

 **Hello there, sorry for the late update but holidays, travel and work, etc. But I'm back with another chapter. As always, I'd like to say thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers. Drop by next time as Wayne inadvertently gets a date to the dance. 'Til next time.**


	19. The Heiress's Dance Plot

**The Heiress's Dance Plot**

Beacon Auditorium

What in the world are these things, thought Wayne as he began hanging some rather strange objects in the auditorium. At the same time, Yang was moving sound systems while Weiss was getting table clothes together, and trying to get a decision out of a surprisingly depressed Ruby who was sitting and watching the preparations. At first Wayne had been afraid that it was because of Aegis asking Ruby out that she was depressed, but he soon learned that Blake had refused to go to the dance, even though the rest of the team had insisted.

"Weiss, I thought we agreed no doilies," Said Yang when she noticed what Wayne was hanging. Oh come on I just started hanging these things, Wayne thought as he groaned to himself.

"If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines," Replied Weiss in her usual demanding tone. I guess she still has to have most things her way, thought Wayne as Neptune and Sun walked in. Wayne didn't bother paying much attention to their conversation as he was still hanging up the doilies, though with his hearing he overheard plenty. Most of the conversation was about what they were wearing to the dance, though Wayne did listen a little harder when he heard Yang confidently state that Blake would be going to the dance. I hope you know what you're doing Yang, thought Wayne.

"Wayne," Weiss's voice snapped Wayne out of his thoughts, "It's time to bring in the fog machines, hurry up and get down here." It's going to be a long day, thought Wayne.

Beacon Grounds: Several Hours of Hanging later

That took a while, thought Wayne as he made his way to the dining hall for a much needed meal, but at least everything's in order for the dance tomorrow and me, Aegis and Ruby have something to wear, though Aegis is gonna give me a bit of grief for not finding a date for it. Oh well, maybe next year, right now all I need is to eat something.

After finding something to eat at the cafeteria, Wayne slowly made his way back to the dorm building, enjoying the night air and wondering how the rest of his friends were doing at finding a date. His brother would say there's still a chance to find a date even if it was the night before the dance, but one of the few things Wayne lacked in comparison to his little brother, besides sheer strength and size, was charm and confidence when talking to a girl romantically. The worst part of it was that Aegis wasn't even the most charming of individuals, but he knew how to make it work, unlike Wayne.

These thoughts kept floating through Wayne's head, making his nighttime stroll a little less pleasant, until an idea occurred to him, a really farfetched idea but an idea, Yang and Emerald, As far was Wayne knew no one had asked them out. What the heck, he thought, at least he could say he'd tried, and if all the other guys on campus had been rejected by Yang or really thought Emerald was that dangerous then maybe there really was a chance.

Wayne picked up his pace a little and started heading towards the nearest area where he knew to find one of them, the dorms where the transfer students were. Wayne was three quarters of the way there when he noticed the moon reflecting off of a figure in shimmering white sitting on one of the benches in the academy gardens, Weiss.

Wayne intended to keep on walking until he noticed the heiress's odd posture. As opposed to her normal 'civilized' posture, Weiss's head was drooping and her shoulders were sagging, as if the confidence with which she normally held herself had left her. I'm probably going to regret this, thought Wayne as he made his way over to where Weiss was.

"Enjoying the night," said Wayne, startling the heiress. "Oh it's just you Wayne," said Weiss with mild surprise as she resumed her sad posture, with a look of defeat on her face Wayne was not used to seeing.

"Mind if I sit down?" asked Wayne. "Do whatever you want," Replied Weiss without looking up. Wayne gently sat down on the bench, trying to give the heiress as much space as possible.

"I gotta say, this is something I don't see you doing often," Wayne began, "While I will admit it is a nice night, I have the feeling that you didn't come out here just to look at the stars." Weiss remained silent. Wayne waited a few moments before he continued.

"So since you're not out here to look at the stars or the moon, would it be ok if you told me why you're out here all alone?" Another few moments of silence passed before Weiss answered.

"Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt alone Wayne?" asked Weiss. "Do you mean have I had times when I felt that the world was against me, that no one cared whether or not I was alive, that no matter what I did I would still be hated?" Replied Wayne.

"Something like that," Said Weiss. "I've had enough to know lonely eyes when I see them, even when you're trying to hide them." Weiss looked up at Wayne. "You might be surprised to know that you and Blake have similar looks in your eyes," Wayne pointed out. "What do you mean," asked Weiss.

"You and Blake have both seen a darker side of the world," Said Wayne, "The reason I know is because the same eyes you and Blake have used to greet me in the mirror almost every morning, back when I was filled with a bit more pain and hatred."

"Well what I'm feeling is kind of like that right now," said Weiss. "Did someone you know try to hurt you?" Asked Wayne. "Not intentionally," said Weiss, "You see I-I asked Neptune to the dance, I thought that he was too afraid to make the first move."

"It didn't work out did it," said Wayne. Weiss's head drooped back down before she spoke again. "He said he was embarrassed, but he wouldn't tell me why, and now I just, I'm just not used to feeling this way about someone and I don't know what to do," Said Weiss with a hint of rising anger in her voice.

"I'm guessing you haven't had much of a love life up to this point," said Wayne. "How could I," replied Weiss, "For so long the only reason boys were interested in me were for the perks of my family name, but now that I've actually found someone that I like for who they are, someone who I thought didn't care about my family name, they just turn around and do this without even telling me why."

Wayne thought for a moment as he waited for the heiress to regain her composure. When she did, she looked back up at Wayne. "Wayne, do you know why a guy would turn a girl down?"

"Well there could be several different reasons," Replied Wayne, "One or two of them might make sense, but the rest are probably just dumb reasons having to do with fear or personal pride, and before you ask, no I don't think he turned you down because you weren't pretty enough." "Have you had this kind of talk with a girl before?" Asked Weiss, perking up slightly.

"Not often," said Wayne, "Normally I'm dealing with bullying victims and trying to reassure them that things get better." "Well in that case, why do you think he turned me down?" Asked Weiss.

"I'm afraid I really couldn't say," Replied Wayne, "I don't know the guy that well, but one thing I do know is that he's missing out."

"Why would you say that?" Asked Weiss. "Because I know at heart that you're a kind, gentle, loving person and if Neptune won't go with a girl like you to the dance, well that's his loss," stated Wayne. Weiss thought about it for a moment as the look of sadness that had been plaguing her slowly vanished.

"I suppose you're right Wayne," said Weiss, "But even so, I wish there was a way I could get through to him." "I'm sure there are plenty of ways," said Wayne, "But I doubt I'd be able to help." Weiss looked downcast for a moment that is until an odd look crossed her face, the kind of look Weiss got when she was thinking of something a little mischievous, which wasn't often and that made Wayne start to worry a little.

"Maybe there is a way you can help," said Weiss. "Well I mean I'll help if I can," said Wayne cautiously, "I don't like seeing my friends with sad faces." "Well what I have to ask of you pertains to the dance," said Weiss, "And you gave your word that you would help me in any way you could with the dance."

"Yes, and I still hold to that promise until the dance is over and done with," replied Wayne. "Very well then," said Weiss as she suddenly straightened up into her familiar, formal posture, "Wayne Ursario, the last thing I need you to do for me, and nothing pertains to the dance more than this, is to accompany me to the dance." Wayne did a double take before answering. "You want me to do what now?"

"If Neptune doesn't have the sense to see what he's missing, then maybe you going with me will make him see," said Weiss, "So tomorrow night I need you to accompany me to the dance." Wayne was speechless for a moment before he finally managed to muster out a few words. "I think you may have taken what I said out of context," said Wayne.

"No I understood and you're right Wayne, boys do things like this for stupid reasons and I'm gonna find out what reasons Neptune has and I need your help to do that," declared Weiss. "I'm not so sure this is the best way," said Wayne.

"Well do you have a better idea?" asked Weiss, "Because if not then I expect you to live up to your word and help me." Wayne thought for a bit but nothing came to mind, mostly because he was still trying to figure out where in the world Weiss had gotten this idea. Finally, though, Wayne let out a sigh of defeat and answered. "Alright, I'll help but I'm telling you right now Aegis is not gonna like this one bit, in fact he's gonna absolutely hate it," Said Wayne.

"But you've always been able to set him straight," Replied Weiss, "Just tell him it's for a good cause."

"That Weiss Schnee is where you're wrong," said Wayne, "Because when Aegis hears about this, well, let's just say your little idea is gonna cost Beacon a few training rooms." "I have faith you can handle it Wayne," said Weiss, "So tomorrow I want you to pick me up just outside of the dorms, I'll send you the time tomorrow, and I want you to look your absolute best, which means no wearing any clashing clothes like those gloves you wear with your school uniform."

"Well if you really insist," said Wayne, standing up, "I suppose it will be my honor to accompany you to the dance, Weiss Schnee." Wayne offered his hand and helped Weiss up off the bench. "Well it's going to be a long day tomorrow," said Weiss, "We'd best get our rest." With that, Weiss made her way back towards the dorms. Wayne remained by the bench until she was out of sight, and out of earshot. Way to go, Wayne thought, you stop by to help a friend out and now you're part of some ridiculous scheme.

"Girls do things like for stupid reasons too," said Wayne aloud as he pulled out his scroll, dreading the call he was about to make. "Yo, Aegis," said Wayne as his brother picked up after the third ring, "Where are you at right now?"

"In the courtyard where all the trees are at," Replied Aegis, "Ruby was with me but she got tired so I carried her back to the dorm." "And now you're just out for a midnight stroll?" Asked Wayne.

"Well maybe I was looking to make one of those bouquets like Mom showed us how to make to give to a special girl, but I may have to settle for a flower, anyway what's going on with you?" Asked Aegis.

"Well I've got good news and I've got bad news," Replied Wayne, "And it's best if you hear the good news first." "Uh oh," said Aegis, "What's the good news?" "I managed to get a date to the dance after all," Said Wayne.

"That's great man!" Exclaimed Aegis, "I knew you could do it, it's like I've been saying for years you just got to go for it sometimes, so who is it anyways?" "That's the bad news," replied Wayne. "Why is it someone we know with a boat load of exes threatening to kill you?" Asked Aegis.

"No exes actually," said Wayne, "But we do know her, only you wish you didn't know her." "Wayne you didn't?" Asked Aegis. "I gave her my word that I'd help her with anything related to the dance, and now she needs me to accompany her to the dance," Replied Wayne.

"Please tell me you aren't really," Anger was starting to creep into Aegis's voice. "Yes Aegis, I'm taking Weiss Schnee to the dance," Said Wayne before he quickly hit the silence button on his scroll as a series of distant roars suddenly erupted from another side of the campus. Wayne was almost certain he would've heard it even without his enhanced hearing. A loud cracking noise, quickly followed by a distant crash erupted soon after the roaring ended. After another couple of minutes, Wayne unmuted his scroll, keeping the volume at its lowest as he heard Aegis raging on the other end.

"You've got to be kidding me, what the heck is wrong with you, what could possibly possess you to-," Aegis continued raging on the other end of the scroll, mostly unintelligibly, as Wayne tried to explain the situation to him. After a good fifteen minutes of trying to calm Aegis down, Wayne explained the situation. Eventually Aegis got tired of roaring and screaming and just seethed on the other end as Wayne finished explaining the situation to him. "Wayne," Aegis finally said, "I think I'm gonna sleep in the library tonight." "I'll leave your change of clothes outside the door," said Wayne, "See you some time tomorrow." Well there goes one or more of the campus trees, thought Wayne, let's just hope that's all.

Team WA Dorms: A Little While Later

Wayne tried going straight to sleep when he made it back to the dorm but found that he had too much on his mind to go straight to sleep. What are you thinking Weiss, Wayne thought, and how much is Aegis gonna tear up for this, and most of all why the heck did I give my word for something as trivial as dance lessons? This is why I don't make a lot of promises, he thought, you can't always keep them, and even worse, every so often you make a promise you shouldn't have. At the end of the day though, he thought, a promise is still a promise and I promised Weiss I would help her, even if it wasn't what I had in mind. With that, Wayne did his best to get to sleep, and eventually he finally did.

 **And yet another milestone at over 1,500 views, and a great big thank you to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers who have given this story a chance. As for the chapter being short, don't worry, it's just a simple set up for a very entertaining scene, depending on what you call entertaining, next chapter as Wayne and Aegis Participate in an old tradition from their home. A tradition which involves a lot of pain and punching of the face. 'Til next time**


	20. Nos Armores or No Armor Brawling

**_Nos Armores_** **or No Armor Brawling**

Beacon Grounds: The Next Day

Where are you Aegis, Wayne thought as he traversed the campus, keeping his eyes and nose out for anything that looked or smelled even vaguely destructive or bear-like. Aegis had stopped by the cafeteria for breakfast early, but he'd taken his food and left. Wayne had been questioning the members of teams RWBY and JNPR, and while a few of them had seen Aegis once or twice, none of them knew where Aegis was now. Wayne was only now looking because he'd been going over some final preparations for the dance, and getting everything set up with Weiss for tonight. This is gonna be a long day, thought Wayne.

"Wayne, hey over here," a voice suddenly called, snapping Wayne out of his thoughts as a now familiar green-haired girl stood waving at him. "Emerald, is everything ok?" asked Wayne as he walked over to Emerald. Now what, Wayne thought, not like I don't have enough problems already.

"I'm fine but I was wondering something," Emerald said as she started fidgeting a little. Oh please don't ask what I think you're going to ask, thought Wayne nervously. "Your brother, and don't take this the wrong way, he isn't going to wreck anything, is he?" Emerald asked.

"Oh is that all," Wayne couldn't help saying out loud as he let out a sigh of relief, "To be honest that's kind of up in the air right now, why do you ask?" "Well I kind of overheard your friends talking about it, and it sounded like it was kind of serious," Replied Emerald. "You know you don't need to eavesdrop on my friends," said Wayne, "They may seem a bit weird, but they're actually really nice."

"Maybe I'll take that in to consideration," said Emerald, "Anyway, do you, uh, need any help looking for him?" "Well if I'm not keeping you from anything important, I wouldn't mind if you want to tag along," Replied Wayne as he began heading in the direction of the training area. "By the way," asked Emerald, "Why were you so nervous a second ago?"

"Oh that," Replied Wayne, "I thought you were gonna ask a different question, a uh, more personal kind of question." "Like What kind of personal question?" Asked Emerald.

"You know like, do I have a girlfriend, or do I have plans this evening, do I like you?" Replied Wayne. "Those kinds of questions make you that nervous?" Asked Emerald, with surprisingly, a slight giggle, "Why were you expecting me to ask something like that?"

"Let's just say things have gotten a bit complicated recently," Replied Wayne, "And if we don't find Aegis soon they could get worse, but I'll explain later if you ask nicely." Wayne and Emerald continued on their way until they were in sight of the training area.

"So why is your brother suddenly so pissed or whatever he is right now?" Asked Emerald, "I mean I know he's got a temper but this seems-," "A bit over the top," Finished Wayne, "Well that remains to be seen." Wayne stopped for a second as he sniffed the air and caught the familiar smell of his brother on the wind before speaking, "But I think we're about to find out."

Wayne followed the scent with Emerald right behind him into the training area that he and Aegis used when they were training with team CFVY. Inside sat Aegis on the training floor with his arms crossed, glaring in the direction of the door Wayne and Emerald had come in from.

"It's about time you got here," said Aegis, "I was about to send out a message on my scroll to tell you where I was." "Sorry I would've come sooner," Replied Wayne, "But I got a little wrapped up helping with the final preparations for the dance."

"Yeah sure, final preparations for the dance or just the white # %$'s preparations?" Said Aegis with disdain as he stood up. "I thought we were past you calling her that, and all this animosity in general," Wayne said.

"What's going on here," Emerald asked. "What's going on here is Wayne's getting soft, and naïve, especially if he believes I'm getting along with the ice queen," Said Aegis. "Look Aegis," said Wayne, "it's like I explained, or tried to anyway, I gave my word and that's that."

"Your word," said Aegis, "Alright then since you feel like giving your word to something so minor, how about something a little more dignified." "Aegis you better not be talking about-," Wayne tried to say.

"I'm talking about _Nos Armores_ Wayne," said Aegis, cutting Wayne off, "Right here right now, show me you can still be mean when it counts." Wayne stayed silent, mostly not believing his brother was really reacting like this, but he also knew that Aegis wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Emerald," Wayne said while still facing Aegis, a note of seriousness in his voice, "I need you to try and get everyone out of the training areas right next to this one, and don't let anyone in until it's over."

"Why what's going on?" asked Emerald. "Things are about to get messy," Replied Wayne as he approached the training circle. Aegis began removing the armored pieces of his combat gear and dropping them just outside of the sparring ring, while Wayne removed his coat and folded it up before setting it down onto the floor. _Nos Armores_ was a practice from their home that demanded no armor be worn or even brought into the designated arena of a match, meaning Wayne had to set his helmet on his coat before he proceeded into the sparring ring. The two brothers faced each other and took a fighting stance, neither of them drawing their weapons yet.

As expected, Aegis didn't wait long to attack and leaped into the air, bringing his leg down in a heel strike. Wayne quickly dodged to the side as Aegis's foot smashed the floor on impact as he countered with a punch directed at Aegis's face. Aegis swatted Wayne's fist away and aimed a punch of his own at Wayne's head, which Wayne quickly knocked to the side with his right hand and countered with a chopping strike to Aegis's collar-bone, which Aegis blocked with his other hand and came in with another punch. Wayne moved around Aegis's fist with a spin and came up with a round house aimed at Aegis's midsection. Aegis was ready for it, however, and quickly moved away before charging back in with a barrage of punches and kicks.

Wayne blocked the first punch, dodged the second, and countered Aegis's kick with a kick of his own. The two brothers continued trading punches and kicks until Aegis got a hold of Wayne's arm and attempted to flip him over. Wayne managed to right himself in mid-flip and land on his feet, while attempting his own takedown maneuver on Aegis. Aegis hit the floor rolling and twisted himself out of Wayne's grasp. Wayne took that moment to attempt another roundhouse kick, this one aimed at Aegis's head. His brother was too fast, or at the very least knew what was coming, as he turned and grabbed Wayne's leg in mid-strike. Wayne spun and lashed out with his other leg at Aegis's head, forcing him to let go of Wayne's leg as the two of them retreated from each other for a moment.

"Haven't slacked on your hand to hand have you?" Aegis asked. "Not as much as you have," said Wayne as the two brothers continued trading punches and kicks with the occasional throw or takedown mixed in. They were matching each other move for move until both of them saw an opening and attacked at the same time, Aegis with his fist and Wayne with a palm strike. Both of them went staggering back, temporarily dazed by the blows at each other's faces. You're holding back even less than usual Aegis, thought Wayne, and you don't typically hold back that much to begin with.

As soon as Aegis recovered, he waved his fist in the air, causing several shards of glass to form which he sent flying at Wayne. Reacting at the moment they were formed, Wayne pulled out one of his Crescent Fangs and fired at the incoming projectiles, shattering each of them as quickly as he could before they got to him. As Aegis reached behind his back to pull out Ursus's Cleaver, Wayne pulled out his other Crescent Fang and fired at his brother with both weapons. Glass ax blades formed on Aegis's weapon as he spun the weapon in front of him, deflecting all of Wayne's shots. Wayne only fired for a few seconds, but stopped after it was obvious that none of the bullets were getting through. The glass blades on Ursus's Cleaver had a bit of damage from Wayne's bullets, but Aegis instantly restored the glass to its original, undamaged ax shape.

"Tired of punching me already?" Wayne goaded. "Upping the ante," Replied Aegis, "You willing to do the same?" Wayne shifted both Crescent Fangs into their sickle forms before answering, "If you insist."

Once again they charged at each other, this time Aegis was swinging his weapon low at Wayne's midsection. Wayne knocked the blow aside with both sickles and dodged out of the way once, twice, then three times as Aegis swung his weapon in multiple horizontal and vertical strikes. When Aegis was coming down for another vertical strike, Wayne pulled it to the side with his left weapon and slashed at Aegis's chest with his right weapon. Once again, however, Aegis knew Wayne too well and caught Wayne's weapon by the top part of the handle with his hand and pushed back against Wayne, causing him to stagger back as Aegis spun around with a horizontal strike aimed at Wayne's head. Wayne barely dodged the attack by leaning back, feeling the air rush past his face from the closeness of the weapon to his chin. Wayne sprang back up and began a series of his own attacks. He slashed vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, temporarily keeping his brother on the defensive. Aegis blocked and barely dodged most of the attacks as Wayne pushed him back. Wayne's advantage didn't last long, though, as Aegis managed to catch both of Wayne's weapons on his own and shoved Wayne back. Wayne dodged his brother's next attack as he started circling and slashing high and low.

"Come on you can be meaner than that," yelled Aegis as he continued blocking and counterattacking. Wayne attempted to throw his brother off by attaching his wires to his weapons and stepping back, swinging one, then both of his weapons both high and low. Aegis managed to see it coming though as he blocked the low one with his weapon and ducked his head to avoid the high one. Wayne moved back in, slashing at whatever weak spot his brother happened to show, before moving back out and attempting to use his weapons on the wires. Aegis got more irritated as he tried to keep up with Wayne, blocking or just managing to dodge his brother's precision strikes.

But they knew each other's fighting styles, and Aegis knew how Wayne's next volley of strikes would begin. Quickly spinning his weapon's cylinder to stone dust and reshaping his blades into a pincer shape, Aegis caught Wayne's first weapon and twisted.

"You still don't have enough resolve," said Aegis as he twisted the weapon out of his brother's hand, "No wonder you let 'er push you around." Aegis caught Wayne's other weapon and twisted, "You're too nice and one day it'll cost you." Wayne's other weapon was forced out of his hand as Aegis stabbed right at his chest. Wayne held up his aura-protected hands and caught the weapon by the blades, holding it just inches from his chest as his growling brother tried forcing the blades closer.

Ring Sidelines

"What're they doing," asked Ruby, who had entered with an increasingly large crowd of onlookers attempting to gather at the training area, drawn by the spectacle. "For the last time they're fighting over something personal," Replied Emerald as she tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to keep people from going back into the training area.

"But what are they fighting about?" asked Yang as the rest of team RWBY entered, "I've never seen them spar this seriously." "All I heard was something about a white #$%& and Wayne giving his word," replied Emerald. "What's going on?" Weiss asked as she suddenly walked up. "Wayne and Aegis are fighting over a, what'd you call it Emerald, a white # &%," Replied Ruby. "They're what!" Exclaimed Weiss.

Back in the Ring

"Alright fine," said Wayne, as he started to growl and push back even harder against his brother's weapon, "You want me to be mean, you want me to stop holding back." Wayne tightened his grip on the weapons blade, causing it to crack as Wayne built up energy in his hands, "FINE!" Wayne unleashed the energy in his hands, destroying the blades and forcing his brother back. Next, Wayne delivered an energized kick, which Aegis barely blocked with his weapon. Even despite blocking it, his brother was still sent back a few feet with his boots sliding along the floor.

"You know why I hold back my semblance," yelled Wayne as he pulled his Crescent Fang to his hand with his wrist wire and delivered an energy slash at his brother,"You know what happens when I lose control." Wayne sent out another energy slash from his other weapon which he also pulled back to his hand. Aegis managed to block both attacks by spinning his dust cylinder, first to ice, then back to earth, both times his blades were destroyed in the process of blocking. Wayne jumped and spun in the air, running his semblance into his weapons as he swung them on his wires. Aegis dodged around the spinning blades as they tore up the floor underneath them.

"But if you really think you can take it," said Wayne swinging his weapons on his wrist wires a couple more times, tearing more sections of the floor as Aegis backed away, "Then bring it on."

"About time," said Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon to fire dust and formed a couple of flaming ax blades. Wayne joined his weapons together and flipped out the blades into Crescent Fang's staff form as he and Aegis charged at each other. Running more energy into his weapon, Wayne slashed horizontally and clashed with his brother's weapon, sending flaming shards of glass flying in all directions. Aegis pulled back and tried a downward strike, which Wayne knocked to the side, causing the floor next to him to become scorched. Wayne attacked with his own diagonal strike, which Aegis managed to knock to the side, tearing up the floor next to him as energy was released from Wayne's weapon.

Ring Sidelines

"I think they're starting to go overboard a bit," said Ruby, ducking as some flaming shards flew by them. "At least the crowd's starting to back up," said Emerald as more rubble started raining down on the now, finally, retreating crowd.

"Still, if either of them get hurt, then what," asked Weiss, "Some of us weren't planning on going to the dance alone." "Oh Aegis can take a beating," said Ruby, "Besides why would Wayne injure Aegis?"

"I'm not worried about that fur-brained brute," said Weiss as another shard of flaming glass flew by, "He's the one that started all this." "Well why are you so worried about Wayne are all of a sudden," Asked Yang, "I thought you wanted to go to the dance with someone else?" "Well there were some, complications with that," said Weiss nervously. "Oh I get it," said Emerald, "I think they're fighting about you and Wayne." "Uh what?" Asked Ruby. "Uh oh, someone's got some explaining to do," said Yang.

Back in the Ring

It was getting harder to move around on the floor, especially considering the longer they fought, the more they tore up the floor with flaming dust and Wayne's semblance. Each clash of their weapons sent out flaming shards and random bursts of energy and every miss tore up more of the floor or part of the training room. Even despite all of this, both Wayne and Aegis were still too evenly matched. They slashed, stabbed, and clashed over and over again, and each time they both got more and more exhausted. "Is that all you got," said Wayne breathing heavily, "And here you were the one saying I was getting soft." "Says you," responded Aegis, "I could do this all day."

"Well we ain't got that kind of time," said Wayne as he started channeling his remaining energy into his weapon, "So why don't we end this?" "Fine by me," said Aegis as he spun his final cylinder to white energy dust and formed a glowing ax blade. Right before they charged, Wayne did something he rarely ever did, he roared. Aegis roared back as the two brothers charged at each other and clashed their weapons together, pushing as hard as they could in an attempt to overpower each other. But the energy didn't stay contained for long as a large explosion of energy, and a little glass, sent both of them flying back as the ground beneath them cratered, sending a massive amount of debris out in every direction.

Wayne slammed against the wall, cratering it as he hung there for a moment before falling to the floor with his weapon right next to him, his brother was right across from him on the other side of the sparring ring in a similar position. Wayne reached for his weapon and tried to get up, a process made a lot more difficult due to the large amount of pain racking his whole body and the massive amount of exhaustion he was feeling from using his semblance so much. But he needed to do this, so he gritted his teeth against the pain and slowly struggled up to a sitting position, then using his weapon as a crutch, hauled himself to a standing position, mostly by leaning on his weapon. Aegis was having about the same amount of trouble getting up as the two brothers slowly moved towards each other one step at a time. Eventually they were within a few feet of each other, breathing hard and wearing looks of utter irritation.

"You're a real $$ sometimes you know that," said Aegis between breaths. "I'm an $$?" Wayne questioned after a couple of breaths. "This was my favorite combat undershirt and now look at it," said Aegis, "It's got a ton of holes in it, and my pants aren't much better and I feel and look like absolute #$%."

"Ok," Said Wayne, "let me remind you that the reason my shirt and gloves are also now torn up, the reason that I look and feel like # # as well right now, was your idea, and to top it all off," Wayne reached behind him and pulled a shard of glass out that had been bothering him and held it up. "Look at this," Wayne said as he held up a shard of glass, "Do you know where this was?"

"Where," asked Aegis. "In my ## cheek, the left one to be specific." "In your ass," replied Aegis. "Yep," Replied Wayne. A couple of moments passed and then they both burst out laughing.

"You're kidding me," said Aegis. "I wish I was," Replied Wayne, "I think this is worse than that time I kicked a piece of rubble into your face." "You kidding me I was picking rocks out of my teeth all day after that," Said Aegis between laughs. "Well you still didn't have to ask anybody 'Hey could you look at my # to see if it's ok,'" said Wayne, "That's probably gonna be me today." They continued laughing for a bit longer before finally settling down.

"But in all seriousness," said Wayne, "Did you get it out of your system?" "Well I'll be honest Wayne it was about more than just you going to the dance with, her," said Aegis, "it's just that you seemed to be getting too nice lately and I didn't want you to start letting people walk all over you." "Well what do you think now?" Asked Wayne.

"I think you're both in a lot of trouble." Wayne and Aegis froze as they both turned and saw Miss Goodwitch standing just outside the now ruined sparring ring. "It seems you two have made quite the mess," Said Ozpin as he walked in next to Goodwitch. Wayne and Aegis could only reply with some nervous laughter.

Beacon Medical Rooms

"You not only wrecked a sparring ring, you also caused large amounts of damage to multiple pieces of training equipment, many of which need to be replaced now," Said Goodwitch, "Not to mention damage to other sections of the training area from debris, and to top it all off you endangered several students in the course of your little sparring match."

"I told Emerald to get them out of there," said Wayne as he tried to sit up, only to lay back down in the infirmary bed as pain shot through his chest again, "It's not our fault everyone wanted to watch," added Aegis from a few beds over and who was in about as good a condition as Wayne.

"And tell me why was it you thought it necessary to cause such damage in the course of the sparring match?" Asked Ozpin, who was seated next to Miss Goodwitch. "That was my bad," said Aegis. "It was both our faults," said Wayne, "We just had some issues that needed to get worked out, and some steam to blow off, and obviously we went a bit overboard."

"Under normal circumstances the least amount of punishment you'd both receive would be a week of detention and a notification to your parents about the damages," said Miss Goodwitch. Wayne and Aegis both flinched at the thought of their parents finding out. "As it is," said Ozpin, "This is a time of celebration, and I think you'll both have enough time to think about what you've done while you're recovering."

"Did the nurse say how bad it is," asked Aegis, "I kind of made a promise to someone about tonight." "No need to worry," said Ozpin, "Once your auras are restored you'll be out of here by tonight, it would be a shame after all if two young ladies had to go to a dance without their dates," Ozpin grabbed his cane and stood up to head out the door, "Though your parents will still be informed about the damage," Said Ozpin, "I imagine you'll want to prepare for that."

Ah # #, thought Wayne as Ozpin and Goodwitch headed out of the infirmary. Shortly after Ozpin and Goodwitch exited the room, team RWBY (minus Blake), entered the room. "Are you okay," asked Ruby, going over to Aegis first. "We're fine," replied Aegis, grunting a little as he clutched his side. "Just exhausted and really sore," Wayne said, finishing for his brother. "Well the nurse said you two are gonna be just fine," said Yang, "But that was a heck of a fight."

Yang punched Wayne in the shoulder, causing him to groan in more pain. "That's not the half of it," said Weiss. "Here we go," Said Aegis.

"You could've really hurt each other, you're lucky you both got off with little more than severe pain and exhaustion," exclaimed Weiss, "I mean what were you thinking, not just Aegis here for challenging you to a fight but you're just as much to blame for accepting the fight in the first place."

"You've obviously never seen Aegis when he gets like that," said Wayne, "He doesn't take no very well, especially if he's challenging someone to a fight." "But you both had to have this fight today of all days?" Asked Weiss with irritation.

"Uh Weiss," said Yang, "You do remember why they were fighting in the first place right?" "Well it's not my fault that he's got a short fuse and bad judgment," Replied Weiss mockingly.

"Hey for your information I did this out of concern for my brother," said Aegis, sitting up more from his infirmary bed. "Concern?" Weiss said sarcastically, "How is injuring your brother because he's fulfilling a promise a show of concern?"

"Weiss I'm sure Aegis was just trying to help," said Ruby, "I know it might seem weird but Aegis is a lot smarter than he looks." "Who are you kidding-," Weiss was about to say.

"Weiss!" Wayne said, cutting Weiss off, "Believe me it's fine, me and Aegis know each other's limits, Aegis didn't do this intending to put either of us in the hospital for a week."

"But why did he feel the need to do it at all?" Exclaimed Weiss. "Because Wayne here occasionally gets soft and makes stupid promises," said Aegis, "I was just reminding him of what could happen if he gets too soft."

"So what, this was some kind of brotherly bonding exercise then?" Asked Yang. "If that's how you want to look at it," Replied Wayne. "Unbelievable." Said Weiss.

"Hey don't worry," said Wayne, "We'll both be out by tonight and more than capable of taking you ladies to the dance." Weiss still looked unconvinced.

"This ain't the worst fight we've ever had," Said Aegis, "So you just go worry about whatever you've got to do for the dance and we'll be out before you know it." Eventually, Weiss relented and turned to head out the door, stopping at the entrance, "Just try not to be late," Weiss said as she headed out the door.

"I've got to head out too," said Yang, "Got to get a couple of last minute things together for Blake." "You guys try not to hurt each other anymore," Said Ruby as she gave Aegis a hug.

"About the only thing I can promise is that I'll be there at the dance," Said Aegis, "But I'll see what I can do." Ruby let go of Aegis and came over to give Wayne a hug. "Try to keep Aegis from breaking anything else," Asked Ruby. "Tall order, but I'll try," Replied Wayne. Ruby giggled a little at that as she headed out of the room.

"I don't know about you bro," said Aegis, "But I need a nap, so you know wake me before it gets too late if you can." "Either me or the nurse will let you know," Replied Wayne. "Thanks," Aegis said as he turned over on his bed. After several minutes the low sound of Aegis's snoring filled the room. Wayne settled down on his own bed, wanting nothing more than to try sleeping himself, but he had something else to take care of.

"He's asleep, you can come out now," said Wayne. Emerald stepped out from behind one of the bed curtains and walked up next to Wayne's bed. "Not bad, how long did you know I was standing there?" Asked Emerald. "I smelled you walk in about a couple minutes after Ruby and the others came in," Replied Wayne, "Though I wasn't completely sure it was you until after they left."

"One of the benefits of being a half-faunus?" Asked Emerald. "Yep," replied Wayne, "It comes in handy from time to time, but I imagine you're here to talk about more than just my faunus lineage."

"Well mostly I was wondering what that was all about," Asked Emerald, "And how have you not wrecked more training rooms?" "Well you tried to get everyone out during our fight so I guess I at least owe you a better explanation than the one I gave earlier," said Wayne. "The reason Aegis was so angry was mostly because he doesn't like Weiss, the white-haired girl if you haven't guessed by now, but I also imagine this was the last straw in a number of times I've been too nice for Aegis's taste."

"Your brother's not the understanding type?" Asked Emerald. "He's understanding when he wants to be," Replied Wayne, "But when you spend years being mocked for the traits of your birth you don't tend to be all that forgiving." "But you're his brother," said Emerald, "I thought families were supposed to get along, but you two not only fought like you hated each other, you said this wasn't the worst fight you've ever had."

"You don't have any siblings do you?" Asked Wayne. "No," said Emerald, "I don't really have any relatives." "Oh," Said Wayne, feeling a bit like a prick now, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-,"

"It's alright," Said Emerald, "You, you didn't know." "Well, uh, anyway," Wayne said, trying to be a little more tactful, "Families can be funny things sometimes, a good family will love you and care for you and teach you what's most important in life, but sometimes the way they show they care about you involves whooping your ##." "You mean like tough love?" Said Emerald.

"Yep," Replied Wayne, "And when you have a good sibling, they'll be at least one of two things for you, a friend and maybe a rival too." "So what was Aegis being?" Asked Emerald. "A bit of both," said Wayne, "He wanted to fight to see that I wasn't falling behind because I was trying to be kind, but he was also trying to keep me from going to the dance with Weiss because he figures she'll just treat me like dirt."

"So why are you taking Weiss Schnee to the dance?" Asked Emerald, somewhat perplexed. "I didn't actually have a choice," replied Wayne, "I gave her my word that in exchange for her help that I'd help her set up the dance, and it just so happened that one of the ways I can help her is by taking her to the dance."

"You gave your word for something like that?" Asked Emerald. "She was the only one I could turn to at the time," Replied Wayne, "I didn't even really want to go to the dance at first, but Ruby talked me into it."

"What did you need her help with anyway?" Asked Emerald. "Promise not to laugh?" Wayne asked. "Only if it's a good reason," Replied Emerald. "Ok then, well you see what I needed was for Weiss to teach me how to ballroom dance," Said Wayne.

"You gave your word of honor for some dance lessons," Emerald couldn't help but giggle a bit. "Hey you said you wouldn't laugh," Said Wayne. "Sorry it's just, of all the things," Emerald kept snickering for another few seconds until her laughter finally subsided.

"At the time I never would've thought she'd do something like this," said Wayne, "But some complications came up with who she wanted to ask out, so her idea is for me to take her to the dance and see if we can't sort a few things out."

"So let me get this straight," Said Emerald, "You and your brother got into a knockdown, drag out fight which tore up a whole training area, over you going to the dance with a girl that your brother absolutely hates?" "That's about the long and short of it," said Wayne.

"And that still wasn't the worst fight you two have ever had?" Asked Emerald. "Nope," Wayne said as he pointed to his right shoulder, which was only covered by a few strands of sleeve now, where a horizontal line of a scar could now be seen.

"This came from our worst fight, one where we pushed each other to our absolute limits in a sparring match, and it kinda got out of hand and ended with both of us severely bruised, cut up, exhausted, and with a pair of matching scars on our right shoulders."

"How much stuff did you wreck in the process," Asked Emerald. "Well at the time I wasn't holding my semblance back so much, so we both managed to level a small section of the forest area outside of our village by the time the fight was over."

"Were you holding your semblance back today?" Asked Emerald. "Not near as much, I knew my brother was serious and he's been tough enough to take what I can dish out, if just barely," Replied Wayne, "But enough about me, what about you?"

"Me?" Repeated Emerald. "Yeah, you and your team aren't quite like the other teams from Haven." "You should talk," said Emerald, "I hear you and Aegis make up a team on your own." "Support team," Said Wayne, "Beacon's first, and I'm sure we get along better than you and silver spades."

"Oh don't get me started," said Emerald, "If it wasn't for Cinder there'd be no way I could stand that smart #$ Mercury." "Hopeless flirt or just all around prick?" Asked Wayne. "Shameless is more like it, and definitely a prick," Replied Emerald.

"I guess that makes Cinder mom," said Wayne. "You have no idea," Replied Emerald, with a small laugh. Wayne started laughing too, then tensed up as more pain shot through his chest. "You alright?" Asked Emerald. "Yeah, still kind of sore is all," Replied Wayne. "Well I'd best go then," Said Emerald, "You look like you need your rest."

"Well as weird as it sounds, I appreciate you stopping by," Said Wayne. "Why's that?" Asked Emerald. "It's just nice to see a friendly smile," Replied Wayne, "Of course I can't argue with talking to another beautiful girl either."

"Oh don't you start," Said Emerald, lightly hitting Wayne on the shoulder. "Just sayin'," Said Wayne as Emerald turned to leave. "Just get some rest and get your head back on straight you big dolt," Said Emerald as she exited the room. Well she's different than I expected, thought Wayne as he shifted a bit to make himself more comfortable. "Maybe you should've asked her to the dance," Said Aegis, "She seems nice enough." "Go back to sleep," Replied Wayne.

 **And so the brother's battle ends, just in time for the oncoming awkwardness that is the dance. As always I'd like to thank my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've stuck with me so far throughout this story, and as before, if you got any tips or pointers to make this story better, just let me know. 'Til next time.**


	21. Problem-Solving Through Dance

**Problem Solving Through Dance**

Beacon Dorms: The Evening of the Dance

Ouch, thought Wayne as he slipped on the last piece of his formal attire, a suit which was basically a much fancier looking version of his school uniform. Both he and Aegis were still fairly sore, but they were in good enough shape to attend a dance.

"You nervous?" Asked Aegis as he finished combing his hair. "You kidding," Replied Wayne, "I'd be less scared fighting an army of Grimm, how about you?" "Oh I'm nervous," said Aegis, "But so is Ruby, so at least I got that going for me."

"Good for you," said Wayne as he was about to put his gloves on, then stopped when he remembered what Weiss said about not wearing clashing attire. Well this is gonna be a fun night, thought Wayne as he set his gloves back down on the dresser, feeling a little odd not wearing them somewhere.

"You know if it'll make you less nervous I can embarrass the living daylights out of your, ahem, date if you want," Said Aegis. "No Aegis, I think we've both done enough embarrassing things for today, though I appreciate the offer," replied Wayne as he opened the door to head out, with Aegis close behind. "Ok, then I wish you luck, and offer my condolences," Said Aegis. Wayne rolled his eyes as they headed out, both in anticipation, and apprehension, of what the night had in store.

Weiss was waiting for them when they got outside of the dorms, wearing the same white dress she had been asking Wayne about. "Five minutes to spare, I'm actually impressed," Said Weiss. "We've had this conversation, I try to arrive early," replied Wayne.

"I know, what impresses me though is that you were able to arrive early and make your brother look respectable," Said Weiss. "I dressed myself thank you very much," Said Aegis, "Have you ever dressed-," "Aegis, not tonight," Said Wayne, cutting his brother off before he finished the insult.

"Fine," Replied Aegis, grudgingly, "By the way, where's Ruby at?" "She was having some difficulty getting down the stairs," Replied Weiss, "It seems our fearless leader has never worn heels before, so she told me to go on ahead and wait for the two of you."

"Well why don't you two go ahead," Said Aegis, "I can help Ruby when she gets out here." "You sure Aegis, I thought the idea was for us all to go together," Said Wayne. "Yeah but I'm sure your own, *cough*, date here is eager to get to the dance and see everyone," Replied Aegis.

"Weiss, what do you think?" Asked Wayne, turning to the heiress. "Well Yang has already gone ahead and may need some help at the door," Stated Weiss before she turned to Aegis. "Alright, we'll go ahead, but if I see Ruby crying for any reason when she walks in that door, Yang and I will make it so that you won't get out of the infirmary for a week."

"Right, right, don't worry," said Aegis, "I like Ruby a heck of a lot more than I like you and I plan on making this the nicest night for her that I can." "Hmmph," Weiss grunted as she turned back to Wayne. "Shall we go then?" Said Weiss, trying to sound civil. "Right this way," said Wayne, presenting his arm. Weiss slipped her arms around Wayne's arm as they began to walk towards the auditorium. Wayne heard his brother make a gagging noise as soon as they turned a corner, though Weiss likely couldn't hear it.

"Your brother is a piece of work you know that?" Said Weiss. "After living with him for the fifteen out of seventeen years of my life," said Wayne, "No I haven't noticed a thing." Weiss rolled her eyes at the sarcasm in Wayne's comment. "Though you know this whole thing has been something else so far," Said Wayne. "What do you mean?" Asked Weiss. "I didn't expect to even really be here tonight," Explained Wayne, "and now look, here I am not only being taught ballroom dancing but escorting a beautiful princess, or heiress." "You're right, it has been, weird to say the least," Said Weiss before a slight smirk formed on her face.

"What's with that look," said Wayne. "I was just thinking," Replied Weiss, "My Dad would be so angry right now if he saw see me being escorted to the dance by a half-faunus guy from outside of the kingdoms." "Overprotective or just has certain standards?" Asked Wayne. "Standards mostly," Said Weiss, "My father is a bit, strict to say the least." "Well you know what my father would say about tonight?" Said Wayne. "What?" Asked Weiss. "He'd say 'enjoy the night, and be happy that you get to spend it with your friends'," Wayne quoted. "He seems, like a good parent," Said Weiss. "Then he'd say try and sweep a beautiful girl off her feet," Wayne added. "I should've guessed," said Weiss, with a small laugh.

The Dance

"Well just look at you two," Said Yang as she stood behind the greeter's podium as they walked into the auditorium. Yang was also wearing a white dress, though this one was a little less conservative than Weiss's, "For a last minute pairing you two don't look half bad together." "Yaaaaang," Weiss whispered intensely. "Oh relax would you," Said Yang, "I'm sure whatever scheme you two cooked up will work out."

"You tell them then?" Asked Wayne. "I told them you were here to make someone jealous," Replied Weiss, "It was the only way they'd stop bugging me about it after you and Aegis had your little feud."

"Well either way," Said Yang as she directed them past the podium, "The party's just getting started, so get out there." Wayne and Weiss made their way to the refreshments table, neither of them quite knowing what to do first. "I'm guessing this is the first time you've ever tried something like this?" Asked Wayne.

"No I've been to plenty of dances and formal events," Said Weiss. "No I mean this whole, getting noticed through jealousy thing," Said Wayne. "Oh, well like I said, I've not often felt this way about a guy," Said Weiss, "Normally they try to get me to notice them." "Well how about this," said Wayne, "I swing by the table and get us some punch, you figure out what Neptune is up to and we take it from there, sound good?"

"It's a start," Replied Weiss. "Be right back," Said Wayne as he headed to the end of the table, wading through a crowd of dancers and couples, and those unlucky enough to be on the sidelines. This is gonna be a weird night, Wayne thought to himself as he looked back over. Suddenly he heard Yang cheer gleefully as a nervous looking Ruby and Aegis walked in the door. Ruby wore a red dress with a large black bow around her waist and Aegis was in his formal school uniform leading her by the arm, or rather supporting her as she tried not to stumble in her heels.

Due to the difference in Aegis and Ruby's height they looked kind of odd to say the least, but at the same time they made a cute couple. Wayne turned his attention back to getting the punch and headed back towards the direction Weiss had gone, a task made slightly more difficult by the large number of people clustered around the dance floor. That was when Wayne got his first surprise of the night. After maneuvering around for a bit, Wayne noticed that Blake and Sun had walked in.

Well you did it after all Yang, thought Wayne as Blake was accompanied out to the dance floor by Yang. Eventually Wayne made it over to where Weiss was and handed her one of the cups of punch while waiting on her to finish talking to another student. "Well at least somebody's got something goin' right for them," Said Wayne as soon as Weiss was done talking.

"Well the optimist would say the night is still young," Said Weiss. "And are you an optimist?" Asked Wayne. Weiss didn't answer right away. "Well how about this," Wayne said before Weiss could give him an answer. Setting his cup down on a nearby chair, Wayne offered his hand to Weiss. "What are you doing?" asked Weiss.

"I am still your date for the night, it'd be a shame if we didn't dance at least once," Replied Wayne. "I don't see how that's supposed to help," Weiss commented. "It's worth a shot and besides," said Wayne, "We're here to enjoy ourselves right?" Weiss looked unsure for a moment, but eventually relented and set her drink down next to Wayne's.

"Alright," Said Weiss, "Just one d-, your hand!" Weiss grabbed Wayne's hand, examining the scars on them, "What happened, did you get this from fighting Aegis?" "No, nothing like that," Replied Wayne, "These burn scars are much older, at least a few years." Wayne held up his other hand, which was covered in similar burn scars on his palm.

"Where did they come from?" Asked Weiss. "First things first," Said Wayne, taking Weiss's hand, "Are we still going to dance?" Weiss looked unsure, but eventually she relented and took Wayne's hand as they made their way out to the dance floor.

"So is this why you always wear those gloves?" Asked Weiss as they began to dance. "Pretty much," Said Wayne, "It's one of those things I get tired of being asked about, so you see why I wanted to wear them tonight." "Can I ask how you got them?" Weiss inquired as they moved across the dance floor, with Wayne leading the dance.

"I've already told you about one of my scars," said Wayne, "And this one is kind of personal, so how about this, you tell me about that scar over your eye and I'll tell you about the burn marks on my hands." Weiss looked sad for a moment as they continued moving step by step. "I got this scar fighting a giant armor," said Weiss finally, "It was a test from my father, though to this day I'm not sure if I was expected to pass it."

"Oh," said Wayne, "Maybe I should've told you about my scars first," said Wayne. "What caused those scars," asked Weiss. "They're self-inflicted," said Wayne.

"But why would you do that to yourself?" Asked Weiss. "My semblance," said Wayne, "The first time I ever used it, I not only destroyed the training target, I blew out most of the back wall. The energy release was so intense it burned my hands."

"But why hide it," asked Weiss, "It doesn't seem all that bad." "At the time, no, in fact these scars used to be a source of pride for me," replied Wayne. "Used to be," Weiss repeated questioningly.

"I used to be a lot more cocky than I am now," said Wayne, "I also used to exercise a lot less restraint with my semblance, so little in fact that me and my brother would destroy an entire training room every few weeks."

"I can kind of see how that could happen," said Weiss, "After what you did to team CFVY's training area." "It got so bad me and Aegis were assigned personal teachers, one to teach Aegis self-control, one to help me control my semblance," Said Wayne. "What wound up happening?" Asked Weiss.

"They both got so fed up with us that they took us to train on Signal's highest roof tops," said Wayne, "It was the only time we'd been allowed to release full force blasts of our semblances." Wayne slowed his steps a bit and let out a sigh as the memory replayed itself in his head. "Aegis busted a huge gaping hole in a building five miles away, and me, well my semblance went into the air and damaged the engines of a large passenger airship that was three miles away."

"Did," Weiss tried to find a way to ask politely, "Did anyone get hurt?" "Fortunately no," replied Wayne, "The airship managed to make an emergency landing, but if that blast had been even a few feet lower the engines would've been destroyed and who knows how many people would've lost their lives, all because I took the power I wielded too lightly."

"What happened after that," Asked Weiss. "Aegis and I had to transfer to Sanctum, after our parents managed to smooth things over with the headmasters, and after that I started wearing the gloves as a reminder, to never lose control, and like I said I got tired of being asked about it." "So all this time," said Weiss, "You weren't holding back because you thought you were better, you just didn't want to hurt anyone."

"It's difficult to say the least," said Wayne, "Even after all this time I still don't have full control of the form or the amount of energy I release." "And hear I thought you were the type of guy to look down on his opponents, even after all this time," said Weiss.

"Well you learn new things every day," said Wayne, "But enough depressing stuff, why don't we get back to enjoying ourselves, and keeping an eye on that Neptune guy you like." "I think I'd like that," Said Weiss as they sped up their dance with the increasing tempo of the music. Soon enough, though, the song ended and Wayne and Weiss separated, bowing to each other in a customary fashion. "Not bad," said Weiss, "It seems you can be taught after all."

"I have my moments," said Wayne as he looked over towards where Neptune was at. Doesn't seem to be working all that well so far, thought Wayne, well I guess that means it's my turn. "You go enjoy the party," said Wayne, "I think it's my turn to keep an eye on Neptune." Weiss nodded as Wayne headed over in Neptune's direction, taking the long way to avoid drawing any attention. Neptune wasn't really paying much attention to Wayne, fortunately, as he was busy making jokes with Blake and Sun.

The funny thing about playing off of someone's jealousy, thought Wayne, is they have to be jealous to begin with, and Neptune is either not jealous or really good at hiding it. Wayne continued weaving through the crowd, always careful to keep Neptune in his sight. Soon enough, Neptune headed towards the stairs to the balcony. Maybe it's time for a more direct approach, thought Wayne, as he headed up the stairs after Neptune. The stairs led up to a balcony which overlooked the main grounds. Wayne kept his distance behind Neptune and hid in the shadow of the door way when they reached the top of the stairs.

To Wayne's surprise, the balcony was already occupied by Jaune and Pyrrha, though Pyrrha was already heading back down the stairs shortly before Neptune arrived, not noticing Wayne as she walked by as he hid in the doorway's shadow.

"Jaune right," said Neptune. "Yeah," Jaune replied lazily. "This party's pretty lame huh," said Neptune, "Cute girls though." "Is that all you think about," Jaune said, with a sudden burst of anger. "What," asked Neptune, who was just as confused as Wayne was right now. "Do you even think about the girls you're hitting on, how they feel about you?" Jaune continued angrily.

"Woo where's this coming from?" asked Neptune. "How could you just turn her down like that?" Asked Jaune, with ire in his voice. "What, who," Neptune questioned with confusion. "Weiss!" Exclaimed Jaune. Ok, thought Wayne, I didn't expect someone to do this job for me.

"I uh, it uh, it just didn't work out," said Neptune. "What you think you're too cool, too many other options," said Jaune, "Weiss Schnee asked you to the dance, what in the world could possibly keep you from-," "I can't dance," said Neptune.

"Beg your pardon?" Said Jaune, now confused. "I can't dance man," said Neptune. "Oh you have got to be kidding me," exclaimed Wayne, startling both Neptune and Jaune, "That's the reason, this whole time, that was the reason?"

"Wayne, how long have you been there?" asked Jaune. "Long enough," Replied Wayne. "Well I guess that means my secret's out," said Neptune. "Not necessarily," said Wayne. "But I don't get it," said Jaune to Neptune, "You're so cool."

"Thank you," said Neptune, "I try really hard." "Maybe too hard," said Wayne. "So you'd rather break a girl's heart and go to the dance alone than just admit to everyone that you can't move to rhythm with music?" Asked Jaune.

"That about sums it up, yeah," Replied Neptune. "Well I certainly feel a lot better about myself," Jaune whispered. "You tried acting like a lady killer when you first got here," said Wayne, picking up Jaune's comment with his more sensitive hearing. "Oh that well I uh," Jaune stuttered.

"Well could you please not tell anyone," Asked Neptune, "If one or both of you want Weiss, she's all yours, I don't want to get in your way." "Do you like her?" Asked Wayne. "Yeah," Replied Neptune, "I mean I don't know her very well yet, but she seems pretty cool."

"Then just go talk to her," said Jaune, "No pick-up lines, no suave moves, just be yourself." "Yeah but-," Neptune tried to protest. "Hey you don't have to be cool all the time," said Wayne.

"In all honesty if you could be a little less cool, I'd really appreciate it," said Jaune. "Yeah, ok," said Neptune. "Go talk to her," said Wayne, "Believe me, it'll make her night." "Thanks," said Neptune, "You're both really cool guys." "Alright don't lie to my face," said Jaune, bumping Neptune's fist.

"I just try to be a good guy," Replied Wayne bumping Neptune's fist, "Sometimes it works." Neptune headed off the balcony, leaving Jaune and Wayne by themselves. "So I got to ask," Said Jaune, "How in the world did you-," "Believe me it's not what you think," Said Wayne, "Right now I can tell you this, I'm here with Weiss because she needed my help."

"Yeah but why you?" Asked Jaune. "I was apparently the only tolerable guy, in Weiss's opinion, who could help her," Replied Wayne, "But right now, don't you have something else to be doing?" A look of realization crossed Jaune's face. "You're right," said Jaune, "See you back at the dance." With that, Jaune headed off of the balcony. Well I accomplished something tonight, thought Wayne, as he took one last look at the view from the balcony before heading back down the stairs.

Back at the dance, things were progressing fairly well, Ren and Nora were dancing, Penny had shown up to enjoy the dance, flanked by two guards for whatever reason, and Neptune was finally talking to Weiss, who had taken up one of the seats along the walls of the auditorium. Also surprising, Emerald, in a flattering green dress, and Mercury, in a basic Haven uniform, had shown up at some point, though their leader, Cinder, was nowhere to be found.

I wonder what that's all about, thought Wayne as he started making his way over to where Emerald and Mercury were. Wayne didn't get too far, however, as a sudden commotion erupted near the dance floor. Now what, thought Wayne as laughter suddenly filled the room. Wayne tried to see what all the commotion was about, but instantly regretted it as he saw why everyone was laughing. "Oh what the # %," said Wayne as he tried to come to terms with what he was seeing. Out in the middle of the dance floor was Jaune Arc talking to Pyrrha, only Jaune was wearing a short, white dress with a purple bow.

You have got to be kidding me, thought Wayne, I'm gonna have nightmares for a week now. Nightmares or not though, it looked like Jaune had finally taken the hint that Pyrrha liked him.

"Well that's not something I ever needed to see," said Aegis as he, Ruby and Yang walked up behind Wayne. "I knew this was going to be a weird night," Said Wayne as he watched team JNPR take the dance floor. "Well what's life without a few surprises?" Said Yang, "Now come on, we're missing all the fun."

Yang grabbed onto Wayne's arm while Aegis took Ruby's hand. "I'm not sure I want to do this," said Ruby nervously as she and Wayne were dragged out onto the dance floor. "Don't worry about it," said Yang, "Like we said, just have fun." Wayne had to struggle to keep up at first as Yang led him through a more complex, and more improvised, dance. Eventually, though, Wayne found the rhythm and followed along with Yang as they spun across the dance floor.

"You know I think this is the first time I've ever been dragged out onto a dance floor by a girl," yelled Wayne over the music as he and Yang circled each other. "Well you're having a better time of it than my sister," said Yang as they both looked over at Aegis and Ruby. Ruby was making nervous movements in an attempt to look like dancing while Aegis shifted from one position to another to try and match the movements of his nervous partner.

"I know she's not the dancing type," Said Wayne as he took Yang's hand and twirled her around. "She's just shy, and this is her first time being dragged onto a dance floor by a boy," Said Yang. "It's a night of firsts for a lot of us I guess," said Wayne. Time flew by as the dance continued, with Wayne's only concern at the moment being to simply avoid bumping into people while he and Yang continued moving to the rhythm of the music. At some point, Ruby exited the dance floor, leaving Aegis to deal with Nora, who had been switching between him and Ren, not quite understanding how cutting in at a dance was supposed to work.

By the time the music stopped and Wayne and Aegis exited the dance floor, Ruby was nowhere to be seen. "What happened to Ruby," Asked Wayne. "She had to step out for a bit," said Aegis, who was now sipping more punch he'd gotten from the serving table.

"You step on her feet a little too much," asked Wayne. "You know I can dance better than that," Replied Aegis. "Yeah sure, that's why the practice room you and Yang were using has a boat load of craters in the walls, and a couple on the floor," Said Wayne.

"We were working a few things out," said Aegis. "You were just mad that she took some of your breakfast one morning when you had to run to the bathroom," said Wayne. "It wasn't just that," said Aegis, "She also took some of my honey."

"Mom sent us that honey to share with everyone," said Wayne. "And I did, I gave everyone a spoonful," said Aegis, "Yang took a couple when I wasn't looking."

"You've got to get that honey craving of yours under better control Aegis," said Wayne. "You know you love doing the honey bomb trick," said Aegis, "And besides, thanks to all that bashing up dance practice, we both got past our problems with each other, well the few problems we had anyway." Aegis finished his punch and tossed it into a nearby garbage can. "Well I think I'm gonna go find Ruby and she what she thinks of her first dance at Beacon," said Aegis, "What about you?"

"Me," said Wayne, "Well." Wayne looked around the dance floor until he noticed that a particular green-haired girl, suddenly didn't have a partner. "I think I got one more dance in me for the night at least," said Wayne. Aegis followed Wayne's line of sight and simply smirked when he figured out who Wayne was looking at.

"Good luck with that bro," said Aegis as he walked off. Wayne slowly pushed his way through the crowd of dancers, noting when he got close why Emerald was alone on the dance floor, Cinder had finally shown up and was dancing with Mercury.

"I guess we both came to the dance with different people than we expected," Said Wayne, from behind Emerald. "What makes you say that," she replied as she turned around. "Well let's see, last I heard you and Mercury didn't exactly get along," Said Wayne. "We don't get along all that well, we mostly just work together," Said Emerald, "But that does remind me, whatever happened to you accompanying that heiress to the dance?"

"I accompanied her, I danced with her, and for the moment, it seems the problem she wanted solved is solved," replied Wayne. "Well we can both say we came and danced," said Emerald.

"Would you mind dancing one more time," asked Wayne holding out his hand, "It'd be a shame, you coming to a dance and the only person you dance with is someone that drives you crazy." Emerald thought for a moment before gingerly taking Wayne's hand.

"Well since you're asking nicely," said Emerald, "let's see if those dance lessons you gave your word for were worth it." Wayne simply smiled as he took hold of Emerald's waist. The music had slowed down considerably now that team JNPR's little dance number had ended, and the pair swayed to the music as Wayne attempted the slowest dancing he'd had to do that evening.

"By the way," said Emerald, "I was wondering a couple of things." "Like what?" asked Wayne. "Well stop me if this is too personal or something, but how many scars do you have exactly?" Asked Emerald.

"Oh right," replied Wayne, "You must've noticed the scars on my hands then." "Your hands, your right shoulder, and Yang said you have two on your left arm," Said Emerald. "Well you've seen most of them," said Wayne, "I believe the only ones you haven't seen are the ones on my left arm and the ones I got on my stomach."

"You have scars on your stomach, that seems-," "Kind of cliché," Said Wayne, finishing for Emerald. "I was going to say it must be something else," said Emerald. "The story behind them isn't as exciting as you'd think," said Wayne, "Mostly a precautionary tale of why you try not to get separated from your hunting party."

"Oh, so you're not one of those guys who half-lies about where you got your scars so you can get girls?" Asked Emerald. "Believe it or not, I'm quite shy, and a terrible liar, heck I didn't even know who I was going to ask out until the night before the dance," Replied Wayne.

"Well that was going to be my second question," said Emerald, "If Weiss hadn't made you bring her to the dance, who would you have asked?" "Oh well um, there was uh, a couple girls I thought about asking, I just kind of doubted they'd say yes on, on such short notice," Replied Wayne. "Like who," asked Emerald.

"Well there was, uh, Yang, crazy as that sounds," said Wayne. "You're saying you're shy, but you still thought you could ask her out," said Emerald. "It was a long shot, she probably would've turned me down, but at least no one could say I didn't try," said Wayne.

"So who was the other girl you wanted to ask out?" Emerald questioned. "Oh you don't want to know," said Wayne, "You probably wouldn't believe me if I did tell you." "I can keep a secret," said Emerald, "And besides, maybe this girl likes you too."

Wayne took a deep breath, "Okay, she was this girl that showed up at the beginning of the semester and kind of caught my eye." "Did she smell nice," Asked Emerald. "She did, though she didn't seem to think being sniffed by a guy on her first day was all that flattering," replied Wayne.

"Well it might be common where you come from," said Emerald, "But it's considered kind of rude to just sniff someone everywhere else in the world." "Well you know, learn new things and all that," said Wayne, "But on the upside I was able to convince her to talk to me a little, had to convince her I wasn't a stalker first though."

"This girl," Asked Emerald, "Is she on a team with a powerful leader and a guy she can't stand?" "Well she hates it when you get her started on the subject of the guy on her team," said Wayne, "But apparently she doesn't hate 'em enough to say no when he asks her out to the dance, then again she once told me that all the other boys found her scary, or maybe she let the guy bring her along so none of the other boys would bother her."

"Would you say it's working, bringing someone else to the dance?" Asked Emerald, "It worked for most of the night," said Wayne, "'til this one guy popped up who knew what she really thought of her teammate, and now they're on the dance floor while the girl's original date is dancing with the team leader, who just now showed up for the dance I might add."

"Is it a nice guy she's dancing with," Asked Emerald. "He seems nice enough, maybe a little too nice for his own good sometimes," said Wayne, "I heard he was in the infirmary earlier for trying to help a friend and getting his brother or something mad."

"Well I think he did it because he gave his word," said Emerald, "And if asked about it, he'd say a guy is only as good as their word, even if they gave their word for something well, kind of lousy." "Well my hope is that the guy is able to sort things out and that the girl he's dancing with would be nice enough to forgive him for sniffing her back on the first day."

"I'm sure he's already told her," said Emerald, "And I'm sure her answer will be that all is forgiven, now that she knows he's not a total creep like her teammate," Said Emerald. "Well if she at least accepts the guy as a friend now, I think he'd be just fine with that." "Well here's what I think," said Emerald, stopping the dance as the music began to wind down, "I think the girl would consider him a friend, but what kind of friend, and how long she would consider him as just a friend well," Emerald turned and started walking away, "That's something they'll both need to figure out."

"Well it's a start," said Wayne, staring as Emerald walked away. The sound of Wayne's scroll ringing broke him out of his trance as he checked the caller ID and answered. "Aegis, what's going on?" Asked Wayne. "Someone was here," said Aegis on the other end, with a serious tone in his voice, "They attacked the guards at the tower and got away after Ruby got into a bit of a scuffle with her." Well that's just great, thought Wayne, I guess it really is back to work tomorrow.

"Well how was it?" Mercury asked Emerald as he and Cinder ended their dance, "You two warming up to each other, any plans for the rest of the night?" "Will you stop it already," Said Emerald, her good mood suddenly gone, "I'm just doing what Cinder asked me to do." "And would you say you're having success?" asked Cinder as the trio began walking out of the auditorium.

"He seems to be less suspicious of us at the very least," Replied Emerald, "I'm fairly certain he doesn't have any real reason to suspect us of anything, other than he thinks me and Cinder have mischievous grins."

"Well just keep him off the trail," said Cinder, "We'll deal with him and all of his little friends soon enough." "Too bad for him," said Mercury, "I think he might actually like you, if just for your body."

"He's not like that," Emerald exclaimed, suddenly defensive, "He cares about a person for more than just their appearance." "Where'd that come from," Asked Mercury, "You aren't starting to enjoy hanging around with that loser are you?" "No, I'm just letting him think I'm a friend," Replied Emerald quickly, "It's easier to learn their secrets that way, but he is more fun to hang out with than your sorry ## ."

"Careful, don't want to get too friendly," said Mercury, "You might have trouble killing them when the time comes." "Don't worry," replied Emerald, "When the time comes I'll kill whoever gets in our way, even Wayne Ursario."

 **And at last the dance is concluded, and all of the dance-themed titles. As always, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who give me motivation to keep posting for this story. Stop by next chapter as the journey to Mountain Glenn gets underway.**


	22. Doctor's, Dogs, and Destroyed Cities

**Doctors, Dogs, and Destroyed Cities**

Beacon Dorms: Mission Day

Well this is productive, thought Wayne as he and Aegis sat in their dorm, Aegis impatiently tapping his foot. After the break in at the tower yesterday, Ruby had been called in for further questioning as soon as the morning came.

"So do you think it was the woman Ruby told us about?" Asked Aegis, finally breaking the silence. "I have no idea," said Wayne, "It's the most likely explanation and I don't see many reasons why it wouldn't be, but that still doesn't answer the question as to why she'd be breaking into the tower in the first place."

"Do you think she ripped something off of a hard drive?" Asked Aegis. "I don't know enough about computers to say, neither of us do," Replied Wayne. "So what now?" Asked Aegis. Wayne thought for a moment before answering.

"I guess the only thing we can do is try to get an assignment that places us near wherever team RWBY is headed, with any luck we'll find something in the Southeast," said Wayne.

"That's if we can get an assignment anywhere near there," said Aegis, "If it's some sort of high profile area they probably won't let us get within five miles of the place." "We'll figure something out," said Wayne, "Finding ways to stop threats is what huntsmen do after all." Aegis looked like he was about to say something until they both heard team RWBY's door open and what sounded like Ruby getting assaulted by a ton of questions.

"I guess things went over okay," said Wayne as team RWBY's door closed. Aegis looked happy until a thought seemed to occur to him. "What is it Aegis?" Asked Wayne, noticing his brother's expression.

"I just realized," said Aegis, "Me and Ruby never really discussed what terms we were on as far as friends go, now that the dance is over." "You're still friends," said Wayne, "Things will be, maybe a bit more awkward now, though."

"Yeah, that makes me feel better," said Aegis, somewhat sarcastically. Suddenly the sound of all of team RWBY screaming could be heard. "Now what," said Aegis as both brothers leapt out of their beds and headed for the door.

"Will all first year students please report to the amphitheater," Said Goodwitch over the intercom. Wayne and Aegis were concerned more for team RWBY until they say all the girls come out of their dorm, apparently unharmed. "Everything alright," asked Wayne, as he and Aegis came into step next to team RWBY. "Just getting some exciting gifts from home is all," said Yang as they headed down the dorm steps.

Beacon Auditorium

Teams WA and RWBY made their way down to the amphitheater, picking a spot next to team JNPR as the entire student body of Beacon as well as several transfer students from Vacuo, Mistral, and Atlas, stood waiting for a message from Ozpin. Silence fell over the audience as Ozpin took the stage and began speaking of the war which had occurred eighty years ago, and how it had nearly resulted in the end of art and individualism. Ozpin also spoke of how the tradition of naming one's children after colors was born in opposition to the war on individualism. In closing, Ozpin made light of the fact that the bond of peace and unity the four kingdoms shared must be maintained through effort, especially by the huntsmen and huntresses.

Wayne waited for the applause to die down before he and Aegis made their way to one of the terminals. "What do we got?" Asked Aegis as Wayne swiped from one page of the terminal after another.

"Not a whole lot," said Wayne, "Many of the missions in the Southeast seem to be rated for second years and up, and the missions that aren't rated too high are in the outlying villages and towns, not a likely place to find a hideout." "What about this one?" questioned Aegis, pointing to a search and destroy mission marked Mountain Glenn. Wayne tried to pull up the mission, but a warning came up instead, blocking access to first years.

"No good, it says the mission is too dangerous for first years," said Wayne. "Oh come on," complained Aegis, "We're going to be shadowing a huntsman, how hard could it be to clear out a bunch of Grimm?"

"Do you really think you're ready for something like that?" Asked Ozpin, as he suddenly walked up next to Wayne and Aegis. "Well I mean we could uh," Aegis started to say. "What I think he means is," said Wayne, "Since we're a support team, as you call us, we can reinforce another team and then they should be capable of handling a bit more than the average team, especially if we're shadowing a huntsman."

"You are that confident in your own abilities?" Asked Ozpin. "I don't know about Wayne," said Aegis, "But I know that if you give us a chance, we'll tear up whatever opposition is standing in our way."

"And your thoughts, Mr. Ursario?" Ozpin asked Wayne. "We'll do whatever it takes to keep the kingdoms safe," Replied Wayne. "Hmm, well since you seem so insistent on this matter," Said Ozpin, "I just so happen to know of another team who also wishes to go beyond their boundaries as first years." Ozpin tapped a few commands into his scroll. Wayne and Aegis both looked at their scrolls as the Mountain Glenn mission became available to them, as well as the name of the team accompanying them.

"Thank you sir," said Wayne. "Do not thank me for this," Replied Ozpin, "Though your teamwork and skill have carried you both this far know this, what lies beyond Vale are dangers you have never faced before, so while you are out there stick close to your huntsmen, for should he find your skills to be lacking in anyway, you will both be sent back." Ozpin turned to walk away before speaking one more time, "Take care, and good luck." Aegis waited until Ozpin was out of earshot before speaking. "That guy can be a real mood killer sometimes," said Aegis. "He's only telling the truth," said Wayne as he looked at his scroll, recognizing the team they would be accompanying, "But he's giving us this chance, so we'd best not waste it." "Well I guess it's off to the southeast then," said Aegis.

Beacon Landing Platforms

Wayne and Aegis made their way outside, grabbing their bags they'd already packed on the way out as they stepped out into the courtyard where students where hurrying along from one place to another. "So how long do you think it's gonna take?" asked Aegis.

"That all depends on whether or not we find something," Replied Wayne. "Well here's hopin'-" "Hey team CFVY is back," said a random student as Wayne and Aegis's attention was drawn to the second year team stepping off of the landing platform and heading towards the academy.

"That figures," said Aegis. "Yeah we leave as soon as they get back," Commented Wayne, "Oh well, at least we can say hi and bye." As team CFVY approached, Velvet was pulled to the side by team RWBY, who had also been worried about the team's extended absence. The rest of team CFVY, or Coco at least, walked right up to Wayne and Aegis.

"Hey guys, what all happened-UFFFF-," Aegis couldn't finish his sentence as the first thing Coco did when she got within arm's reach of Aegis was to punch him straight in the gut. "Oh what was that for?" Asked Aegis with a slight groan to his voice.

"That was for knocking down some of the trees in the center of the campus," said Coco. "I got pissed, it happens," said Aegis. "Velvet and Yatsuhashi liked reading under those trees," said Coco.

"You probably had that coming," said Wayne with a slight grin, which turned into a pained expression as Coco also punched him in the gut. "Ufff, what did I do," asked Wayne with a grunt. "You started this whole mess by taking the ice queen, of all people, to the dance," said Coco.

"It was a complicated situation," said Wayne, "I gave her my word I would help her with the dance." "Yes Aegis told me over my scroll," Said Coco, "Still it was a rather stupid move on your part." "Well we all make mistakes," Said Wayne. "Even if we have good intentions," added Aegis.

"That reminds me," said Coco. Lifting both her hands up, Coco punched Wayne and Aegis in the gut at the same time. "Ou, what gives," groaned Aegis. "Really," Wayne added. "That was for wrecking our entire training ring," Said Coco with irritation, "I hear it'll take them another couple of days just to get all the equipment replaced."

"We got carried away," said Aegis. "Well it's a good thing you two just happen to be leaving for a mission or I'd beat the living daylights out of the both of you so," Coco grabbed the both of them by the collar and pulled them close so that she was whispering in their ears, "So you'd both best come back alive or I'll drag you back from the grave and kill you again." As soon as she was done speaking, Coco released her grip on their collars and walked past them.

"Well it was nice seeing you guys," said Wayne as Yatsuhashi and Fox nodded and walked by. "You two are unbelievable sometimes you know that," said Velvet as she went past Wayne and Aegis. "It was complicated circumstances," said Wayne. "And he needed some sense beaten into 'em," Added Aegis. "Yes I'm certain it was," said Velvet as she continued walking away. "Well that was something else," Said Wayne. "Yeah," said Aegis, "let's get out of here before Coco decides to beat us up anyway."

A Few Minutes Later: Onboard a Bullhead

Wayne mentally ran through a list of what they had. Bullhead, check, supplies for trip, check, weapons and dust ammunition, check, one very fast talking, speedy teacher to accompany on the trip, check, likely imminent death, double check. Unbelievable, thought Wayne, of all the huntsmen that we get assigned to shadow it had to be Doctor Oobleck.

"So on a scale of one to ten," asked Aegis as they stood aboard the bullhead and watched Oobleck talking to the team they were accompanying several yards away, "How horribly do you think this mission is gonna go?"

"Is there a fifteen on there anywhere?" Asked Wayne, still wondering what sort of karma had landed them here. Wayne and Aegis had been excited when they'd gotten to the bullhead, that is, until they found out that Doctor Oobleck was there. Needless to say Oobleck explained everything at his usual quick pace, not bothering to stop until his explanation of the mission, the fact that Wayne and Aegis didn't need most of the contents of their bags, and that he was to be referred to as 'Doctor Oobleck,' was over. The two brothers barely had enough time to stow their extra bags before heading back to the bullhead. Soon enough, though, Oobleck came speeding back into the bullhead as Wayne and Aegis watched teams JNPR, RWBY, and Sun and Neptune wish each other good luck.

"You see this is what happens when you get last second instructions," groaned Aegis, "You get stuck on a bullhead without time to say good luck to anybody." "Calm down, we're not saying good bye forever or anything," said Wayne. I hope not anyway, he thought. After another couple of minutes the other team climbed aboard the bullhead. "Wayne, Aegis?" Said Ruby obviously confused.

"Surprise," said Aegis. "What in the world are you two doing here, you're not on this mission," said Weiss. "We are now," said Wayne, "Courtesy of Ozpin." "Well you are a support team," said Yang, putting her arms around both Wayne and Aegis's shoulders, "And it is always nice to have emotional support." "Keep dreaming," said Aegis, "I could probably bash twice the Grimm you could." "Oh yeah, you wanna make a bet on that," Replied Yang. Here we go, thought Wayne as the bullhead lifted off, with Aegis and Yang still going on about who could kill more Grimm.

Mountain Glenn: A Few Hours Later

"You smell different," said Wayne as they flew over the kingdom. "What, I took a shower this morning I swear," said Ruby. "Yes you used the same shampoo and everything," Replied Wayne, "But you smell like something else too, what's in the bag?"

"It's uh," Ruby fumbled for an answer, "It's a present from dad and I kind of want it to stay, you know, a secret," Whispered Ruby. "If you say so," said Wayne, fairly certain he recognized the smell of a dog coming from the backpack Ruby had. Wayne decided to turn his attention to Yang and the others conversation with Oobleck, who was now explaining that as a huntsmen he had been in a fair number of tussles, to which Ruby got confused with truffles and Brussel sprouts. As Oobleck continued on about the reason that he had been chosen for this mission was based on his dabbling's in both the historical and archeological fields.

"What's history got to do with this," asked Weiss. "Why what a preposterous question you silly girl," replied Oobleck, "History is the backbone of our very society, and the liver, and the kidneys if I had to wager." Oobleck continued to explain that the location they were going to was home to not only forbs and caves but also to one of Vale's failures at expansion. "Mountain Glenn," said Ruby.

"That's right," said Yang, "It was an expansion of Vale, but then it was overrun with Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city." "And now it stands abandoned and as a dark reminder," Said Oobleck. "And a likely place for a hideout," Added Blake quietly.

"Precisely," Replied Oobleck. "Hideout or not," said Aegis, "I just hope we get there soon." "Patience bro," said Wayne, "There'll be plenty to hit when we get there, hideout or not."

Soon enough, the bullhead came to hover over the ruins of Mountain Glenn, a sprawling city which now stood abandoned with miles of old buildings, all in varying states of decay or collapse. "Here we go," said Wayne as he donned his helmet. The members of teams RWBY, WA, and Doctor Oobleck leaped out of the bullhead and onto the ground below as the bullhead which had transported them there ascended back into the sky and flew back towards the city of Vale.

"Everyone, you may still be students but as of this moment your first mission as huntsmen and huntresses has begun," said Oobleck, "From this moment on you need to do exactly as I say, do you understand." Everyone nodded their heads in response. "Ruby, I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school," said Oobleck.

"But you hadn't told us to listen to you," replied Ruby, "So I didn't." "She's not wrong," said Oobleck with his back turned momentarily, "Very well then, leave that bag here and we will pick it up on our return trip." Ruby began to protest to leaving the bag but was quickly cut off by Oobleck. "Young lady, what could you possibly have in that bag that is so important that you have to bring it with-," Oobleck stopped speaking when the dark blue and white head of a Cord gee dog popped out of Ruby's back pack.

I knew I smelled a dog, thought Wayne, but did she really bring one. "Get back in the bag," whispered Ruby to the dog. "We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with hostility and you brought a dog?" Asked Oobleck. "Well I-," Ruby began to answer. "Genius," exclaimed Oobleck. Wayne and the others could only tilt their heads in confusion as Oobleck seized the dog from Ruby's bag and began spinning while holding the dog in the air.

"Canines are historically known for their acute sense of smell and heightened sense of sound," said Oobleck as he continued to spin around while holding the dog, "Making them perfect for a hunt such as ours." After another moment of silence Ruby smiled. "I'm a genius," said Ruby, causing everyone else to either sigh or bring a palm to their face. Wayne rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Alright, so what are your orders Doctor?" Asked Blake. "Ah, straight to the chase, I like it," Replied Oobleck as he dropped the dog back on the ground. "As you have been informed the southeast has become a recent hotspot of Grimm activity, now there are several possibilities for this behavior, some of them being-Grimm," Said Oobleck.

"Uh what?" asked Ruby. "A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment," said Oobleck. # #, thought Wayne as he whirled around to face the lone Beowulf which had appeared, he hadn't been sniffing the area for Grimm and missed it. Everyone readied their weapons, but Oobleck ordered them to stop.

"There are a number of reasons why Grimm would congregate in this area," said Oobleck, "The most likely of which would be their attraction to negativity." Oobleck continued explaining how Grimm were attracted to negative emotions like fear, anger, loneliness, hatred, etc. Wayne and the rest of the group had studied all this before, but eventually Oobleck got to the point.

"All are qualities likely held by our prey," Said Oobleck. "So what now?" Asked Ruby. "We wait, we track, if this specimen leads us to its pack and that pack may lead us subsequently to our prey," Replied Oobleck. "How long do we wait," asked Yang. "It's uncertain," replied Oobleck, "Hours, days, weeks, why lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months-and there's the whole pack."

As Oobleck finished speaking other beowulves joined the first Beowulf. "What," said Weiss. "And now they've seen us," said Oobleck. "What!" Exclaimed Weiss. "AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US," yelled Oobleck.

"I take it tracking is out of the question," said Ruby. "An accurate assumption, yes," replied Oobleck. "So what's the plan then?" Asked Yang. Before Oobleck could answer the beowulves began charging towards the group. Aegis, obviously too impatient to wait for an order, simply charged at the beowulves yelling at the top of his lungs.

"That's the plan," said Wayne as he rushed after his brother. Aegis pulled out Ursus's Cleaver and formed his usual glass ax blades on them as he slashed through the first few beowulves, barely slowing down as he continued charging. Wayne pulled out both Crescent Fangs and opened fire on a couple of beowulves on either side of Aegis, dropping them both with concentrated shots on their heads. Three more beowulves leaped through the air as Wayne quickly switched his weapons to sickle form and leaped into the air as well. Spinning and slashing, Wayne cut through the beowulves in midair and slashed the head off of a fourth Beowulf as he landed on the ground and continued after his brother, slashing through more beowulves as he went.

Soon enough, the rest of team RWBY joined in, punching, slashing, and shooting their way through the small horde of beowulves, quickly cutting through their ranks until they were gone. "Piece of cake," said Ruby as the last Beowulf fell. "Do not celebrate yet," said Oobleck, who Wayne couldn't help but notice, hadn't fought a single Grimm the whole fight, "As I am certain this will be the first bout of many."

The first bout of many it was. As they continued exploring the city, they encountered more packs of beowulves and fought them off, one pack at a time, well teams WA and RWBY were, Oobleck seemed content to study the plants and architecture of the surrounding areas while the students fought off the hordes of Grimm. Eventually Yang called him on it, saying she'd been looking forward to a pro-huntsman fighting or at least helping, to which Oobleck simply replied that not every mission is filled with daring and heroism, but is sometimes just heightened examination. He also pointed out that it was a job which they all signed up for, which pretty much ended all further argument on the subject. What was stranger than Oobleck refusing to lend a hand, though, was when he began asking them all questions, well namely he asked each student why they had become a huntsman/huntress. Obviously they all had their reasons for becoming huntsman and huntresses. Yang did it for the thrill of it, Weiss did it to uphold the honor of her family, Blake was doing it to help the world, and Aegis was doing it because fighting was simply something he'd grown to enjoy doing, especially when it came to knocking down bad guys and monsters.

"And you Wayne," said Oobleck while Wayne slashed through another couple of Grimm, "Why is it you've chosen to become a huntsman?" "Well," said Wayne as he grabbed the last Beowulf by its head and twisted, breaking its neck, "It's a family thing." Wayne let the beowulf's limp body drop to the ground. "There's been at least one huntsman or huntress in our family nearly every generation, and I see no real reason to break the trend now, besides, there are few occupations as honorable as being a huntsman." "I see," said Oobleck as he walked away and signaled everyone to move on.

Several Encounters of Grimm Later

"This is some bull ## ," said Aegis as he and Wayne followed the scent of more Grimm. "I'm sure Dr. Oobleck has his reasons for how he's handling this," said Wayne as they rounded a corner. "No not that," said Aegis, "I mean this." Aegis held up his scroll in front of Wayne's face. On the scroll was a message from an angry Coco, who was going on about Aegis taking Ruby to the dance. "I thought you two were just good friends," said Wayne.

"Well that's what me and Ruby are too," said Aegis, "But Coco here won't buy my explanation of me simply being concerned about her going to the dance alone." "Aegis you know she's gonna keep going on about it until she whoops both our ##s," said Wayne, "Especially now that she lacks some of the training equipment to take her frustrations out on."

"Hey it's not my fault it was one of the only training areas open at the time," said Aegis. "Maybe," said Wayne, "But if you had waited a little longer then maybe we'd have been able to wreck a different area." "Well with luck, by the time we get back the equipment will be replaced and she won't be so mad at us," said Aegis. "She'll be mad enough," Wayne pointed out.

"Well no point in worrying about it until we get back," said Aegis as they stopped in front of an abandoned building. "Hey, you wanna try luring some of them out with one of our more creative methods?" Asked Aegis. "You mean like the howling and roaring method?" Asked Wayne. "No I was thinking the dance and get Grimm method," said Aegis.

"Uh no," said Wayne, "Not that one." "Oh come on it's fun," said Aegis. "It's fun when everyone knows what's going on," said Wayne, "But if one of the girls catches us doing it, we'll probably wind up in a video on all our friends scrolls."

"Ok, how about this," said Aegis, "Rock, paper, scissors, one go until we have a winner, you win you pick the method, I win, I pick the method." Wayne thought for a moment before answering, "Alright fair enough." Wayne and Aegis moved their hands up and down three times. They got a tie three times in a row, but the fourth time, Wayne did scissors and Aegis did rock.

"Oh come on," said Wayne, "This always happens if we're about to do something embarrassing." "Hey no complaining," said Aegis as he pulled out his scroll and attached it to a small holster on his belt. Wayne sighed and did the same.

"It's a good thing they're still fighting Grimm on that side of the building," said Wayne. Flipping to the music selection on their scrolls and turning up the volume to its highest setting, Wayne and Aegis selected an older rock song and hit play. A few beats rang out from their scrolls as the two brothers began their routine, bobbing their heads up and down then moving from side to side as they slid across the ground in synchronized movements. It would've been truly embarrassing if anyone besides the Grimm had been around, as the brothers shifted their shoulders from side to side, moved their feet from left to right, moving around the building in a seemingly care free fashion.

But they were aware of the Grimm which had been approaching them, drawn by the sound of the music, and maybe the dancing. It was when the Grimm were nearly right on top of them that the music ended and the brothers cut loose, slashing and shooting through the small pack of beowulves. Soon enough, the beowulves were disposed of.

"Well that was fun," said Aegis, "Wasn't that fun?" "It was different," said Wayne, "We typically did that little dance and lure routine in the woods, but here we-," Wayne stopped talking when he noticed a very distinct sound, the sound of laughter. Looking up at one of the buildings behind them, Wayne and Aegis found the source of the laughter. Ruby and Yang were holding their sides, Weiss had her hand over her face, and Blake was trying to hide a smile behind her hand, but worst of all, most of them had their scrolls out. "Ah #$ ," Wayne and Aegis said at the same time. Here we embarrass the living crap out of ourselves, thought Wayne.

 **At last the pacing picks up a bit more as we enter the final arc of volume 2. As always, a great big thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers. As always, just let me know if there's anything I can do to improve the story. Stop in next time as the Ursario brothers reveal their reasons for becoming Huntsmen, oh and Ruby gets in trouble again.**


	23. Reasons and Driving Forces

**Reasons and Driving Forces**

Mountain Glenn: Day's End

It was another hour before the girls stopped laughing about Wayne and Aegis's little dance. By that time the sun had begun setting and Oobleck had decided to call it a day for the search. Wayne and Aegis got tasked with setting up the campfire while the girls, minus Ruby who went with Oobleck to scout the perimeter, got the sleeping bags ready.

"I can't believe we didn't find anything," said Yang as they stood around the fire. "We've always been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time," said Blake, "I guess we can't always have luck on our side."

"Patience is a large part of hunting," said Wayne, "At least that's what dad always told us." "He also told us that hunts are better with campfire songs," whispered Aegis. Wayne rolled his eyes at the prospect.

"That's not what I meant," said Weiss suddenly, "earlier, about upholding the legacy, there's more to it than that." "Yeah," said Yang, "No me too, I mean, I don't know." "I don't know either," said Blake, "I know what I want to do, but I figured I'd always take things one step at a time."

"Well it doesn't matter at the moment," said Aegis, "We all know why we're here right now." "Right," said Yang, sounding somewhat unconvinced. "Ah wonderful," said Oobleck as he suddenly burst into the room of the abandoned building they were in, "A text book campfire."

"Fire," squealed Ruby as she knelt down next to the flames to warm her hands, "So warm." "Very good," said Oobleck, "Now eat your dinners and hurry off to bed, each one of you will need to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode, any volunteers for first watch?"

"Yo," said Ruby raising her hand. Oobleck swiftly left the room after giving the teams their instructions. Ruby also got up to go keep watch with Zwei (the dog she'd brought with them) following after her. "Hey did he ask you why you wanted to be a huntress?" Yang asked Ruby, "I mean what did you tell him?"

"Hmm, no he didn't," replied Ruby, "Weird, oh well, good night guys." With that, Ruby headed out of the room onto the balcony-like opening in the building, leaving the rest of teams RWBY and WA in the room by themselves, who, having nothing else to do, did as Oobleck instructed and ate their food and tried to get to sleep on their sleeping bags.

Later

It was only a couple hours later when Yang spoke up, asking if Blake was awake and why she thought Oobleck asked them about being huntresses. "Maybe he was just curious," said Blake. "You think," questioned Yang.

"No," said Blake. Yang then asked Weiss if she was awake, to which Weiss answered, "Of course I'm awake, you two are talking." After a brief pause, Weiss continued with a little less hostility, "and I think he-, when I said I wanted to honor my family's name, I meant it, but it's not what you think, I'm not stupid-," Aegis snorted suddenly, temporarily interrupting her as she glared his way before continuing, "I'm fully aware of what my father has done with the Schnee dust company, since he took control, our business has operated in a moral grey area."

"That's putting it lightly," said Blake. "Big time," added Aegis. "Which is why I feel the need to make things right," Weiss said before pausing for a brief moment. "If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything, my father was not the start of our name and I refuse to let him be the end of it." Weiss laid back down on her sleeping bag when she finished speaking. After a short pause, Blake continued the conversation.

"All my life I fought for what I thought was right, I had a partner, Adam, more of a mentor actually," said Blake solemnly, "he always assured me that what we were doing would make the world a better place, but of course his idea of a perfect future turned out to be not perfect for everyone," Blake took a breath before continuing, "I joined the academy because I knew huntsmen and huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world, always fighting for good, but I never really thought past that. When I leave the academy what will I-, how can I undo so many years of hate?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," said Yang, "You're not one to back down from a challenge Blake." "But I am," exclaimed Blake, "I do it all the time, when you learned I was a faunus, I didn't know what to do so I ran, when I realized my oldest partner had become a monster I ran, even my semblance, I was born with the ability to leap behind a shadow of myself, an empty copy which takes the hit while I run away."

"But you still tried to do what you thought was right in the end," said Wayne without opening his eyes. He'd been sleeping on the ground with his back to a column, silently listening to the conversation. Truth be told, he hadn't been able to sleep either so he decided to join in on the conversation, "You came back to us ready to face the consequences, that is something not everyone can say they've done."

"That reminds me," said Yang, "You two never said why you wanted to become huntsmen." "Well let's see, to put it simply," said Aegis, "I've fought bullies, scumbags, criminals, and Grimm for a good portion of my life and I see no reason to stop now, so why not make a career out of it."

"Was life hard for you two," asked Blake, "Being half-faunus and all." "Ah could've been a lot worse," said Aegis, "Me and Wayne beat up most anyone who got on our bad sides." "That's constructive," said Weiss. "Hey most of those fights were started by someone else," said Aegis, "And they usually had it coming anyway." "What about you Wayne," asked Yang.

"Me, well," Replied Wayne as he thought for a moment, "If you overheard me talking to Oobleck, a large part of the reason I'm doing this is to kind of continue the family tradition of huntsmen and huntresses, but that's not the main reason I decided to become a huntsman." Wayne picked up his helmet and looked at its yellow eyes as he spoke, "My parents always told us that we could be whatever we wanted to be, even despite the fact that they were teaching us both to fight at a young age, so I decided I wanted to be a protector of sorts, someone who not only fights monsters but helps people deal with bullies, criminals, and unpleasant people, be someone that my family can be proud of."

"Well at least you guys have something that drives you," said Yang, "I've just always kind of gone with the flow ya know, and that's fine, I mean that's who I am, but how long can I really do that for, I want to be a huntress, but not really because I want to be a hero, but because I want the adventure, I want a life where I don't know where tomorrow will bring and that'll be a good thing, being a huntress just happens to line up with that."

Yang paused for a moment to shift positions on her sleeping bag, "I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a huntress, it's like she said ever since she was a kid she dreamt about being the heroes in the books, helping people and saving the day and never asking for anything else in return, even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do, that's why she's trained so hard to get where she is today."

"Well she's still just a kid," said Weiss. "She's only two years younger," said Blake, "We're all kids." "Well not anymore," said Yang, "I mean look where we are, in the middle of a warzone and armed to the teeth."

"Speak for yourself," said Aegis, "Wayne and I have been going out for hunts like this since we were ten, eleven years old, not for White Fang guys or criminals of course, but plenty of monsters." "It's the life we chose," said Blake.

"It's a job," said Weiss, "We all had this romanticized vision of being a huntress in our heads." "And huntsmen," added Wayne. "But at the end of the day," Continued Weiss "it's a job to protect the people, and whatever we want will have to come second." Everyone nodded in agreement before rolling back onto their sleeping bags and trying to sleep again.

Some Time Later

"Zwei-," said a familiar voice, breaking through Wayne's dreamless sleep as he lazily opened his eyes partway. Looking over to where he'd heard the voice, he saw Ruby hurrying after her dog. Should I go after her, thought Wayne, I know she can take care of herself. Ah heck with it, thought Wayne, I'll wait a bit and see.

Yet Even More Time Later

Where is she, thought Wayne as Yang came to get Weiss up for watch duty, she's been gone way too long for giving a dog a walk. "Hey where's Ruby," asked Yang.

"She left a while ago following Zwei," said Wayne sleepily as he shifted position to stand up. "What," said Oobleck, peeking around the corner. At that same instant, Zwei came running back into the ruined building, but Ruby was nowhere to be seen. "What's going on," asked Blake. "Grab your weapons," said Oobleck, "Your leader may be in trouble." "So much for a goodnight's sleep," said Aegis groggily as everyone grabbed their weapons and rushed out of the building.

After following the dog, Zwei, for a short time, the group came to a large hole in the street, but that wasn't the worst sign. "Ruby's scythe," said Blake, spotting her leader's weapon on the ground next to the hole.

"You think she fell," asked Weiss, "Fell," exclaimed Oobleck. "Down there," said Weiss. "No question," said Wayne, sniffing the hole, "her scent stops here." "Of course," said Oobleck multiple times.

"What is it," asked Yang. "How could I be so stupid?" exclaimed Oobleck. "Dr. Oobleck what's wrong," asked Yang. "Moutain Glenn, originally an expansion of Vale," Oobleck kept on explaining about Mountain Glenn until he got to a more important point, "The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forbs and deep caves."

"Doc, what are you saying," asked Yang. "We're not just looking for an underground crime network," said Oobleck, "We're looking for an UNDERGROUND crime network." "They've been working in caves?" Asked Blake.

"No no," said Oobleck as he continued explaining how Mountain Glenn had a unique underground transportation system. "You mean an underground village," asked Yang. "In a manner of speaking yes," replied Oobleck, "A safe haven, until one day, an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm, after that, the kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb, If Ruby is down there." Oobleck reached behind his back and pulled out his thermice, which he quickly extended into a club like weapon, "We must find her." "I got her scent," said Aegis as he handed Crescent Rose (Ruby's scythe) to Blake, "Let's move." With those last words, Aegis leaped into the dark confines of the hole. Yang followed quickly after Aegis, and Wayne after her, until they had all descended into the darkness of the underground city.

 **Hello again, and yes I know this is a short chapter but the way I've got the story written it would've been kind of odd to end it anywhere else (in my opinion anyway). But don't worry, next chapter will have plenty of action as the gang infiltrates the underground city of Mountain Glenn to find Ruby and put a stop to the White Fang's plan. As always, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers for the latest milestone of over 2,000 views. I hope you're all still finding this story entertaining, and be sure to drop by next chapter. 'Til next time.**


	24. All Aboard The Breach Express

**All Aboard The Breach Express**

The Underground City of Mountain Glenn

After falling for a short period, Wayne pulled out one of his Crescent Fangs and dug it into the wall, slowing his descent until he dropped into a slightly lit cavern and rolled out of the way so that the rest of team RWBY and Dr. Oobleck could land.

"Well this is something else," said Aegis as they looked out into the cavern. The ceiling of the cavern extended an incredible height upward and as Wayne and the others looked out over the cliff they were standing on, which turned out to be another building, they could see the remains of the underground city which had been built.

"And Ruby is somewhere down there," said Yang. "Not there," said Wayne as he picked up Ruby's scent again, "This way." Following Ruby's scent, they made their way through a door in the back of the building they were on and followed it out until they reached the top of another building, this one overlooking something far more sinister. Beneath them the entire area was buzzing with several forms of activity as White Fang members loaded a large train with all kinds of cargo. Robots and androids moved from place to place, and White Fang soldiers patrolled several of the areas below them.

"They were here this whole time," said Blake. "Any bright ideas?" Asked Weiss. "There are multiple paths we could take here," Oobleck stated. "I think I have an idea," said Wayne as an explosive tank caught his eye, "That is if no one minds throwing stealth out the window." "There unfortunately isn't time for stealth," Said Oobleck, "Every second we waste could be putting young Miss Rose in greater danger."

"Well in that case," said Wayne, "Yang, with your permission, I'd like to borrow Crescent Rose." "I guess," said Yang, "You know how to use it right?" "I convinced Ruby to let me take a few swings with it once in exchange for looking at my weapons," Replied Wayne as he took Crescent Rose from Blake, "But I got the basics of it." "So what's your big plan here?" Asked Aegis.

"Simply put, I shoot the explosive tank and then we drop down on their heads," replied Wayne as he took aim with Crescent Rose, still in its rifle form. "You think you got a shot?" Asked Aegis. "It's just like head-shotting beowulves back home," said Wayne as he got the explosive tank in his sights. Taking a deep breath, Wayne steadied his aim and, after another moment, fired. Wayne felt the kick of Ruby's weapon as the shot went out from the barrel and down to the explosive tank several meters below. The tank exploded in a shower of flames and noise as the White Fang members in the area began scattering around in confusion.

"Now," yelled Wayne. Without any further prompting, the other members of teams RWBY and WA leaped from the building they were on and into the fray, with Wayne following close behind. Caught unprepared, the first few White Fang members were picked off easily by team RWBY, who slashed, and in Yang's case punched, their way through. Doctor Oobleck swung his club-like weapon and downed a few more White Fang with several quick blows their heads. Aegis formed his favorite glass ax-blades on his own weapon and began slashing and punching his way through a small column of White Fang who had managed to regroup, but only soon enough to be sent in all directions by Aegis's vicious swings.

Wayne, picking up the rear and still carrying Crescent Rose, shifted his friend's weapon to its scythe form and charged the remaining White Fang members who were still lucky enough to be standing. Swinging once, twice and then three times, Wayne was able to send the remaining White Fang members into the air. Not bad, Wayne thought as he mounted the weapon on his shoulder and continued sprinting after the others, seems a bit heavy and awkward on the front though.

"You look ridiculous with that thing," said Aegis as Wayne came up beside him. "What you think you'd look better," Replied Wayne. "Well I was the one who asked Ruby to teach me a little bit about scythe combat," said Aegis.

"You saying you actually paid attention before asking her to the dance?" Said Wayne. "Sure," said Aegis as he reshaped his glass blades into a scythe blade, "Watch and learn." Taking a running leap, Aegis spun and slashed in midair, his newly formed scythe blade knocking down a few more White Fang who had tried to regroup and attack.

"How about that," said Aegis. "It was the most graceful midair flailing I've ever seen you do," said Wayne. "Ah what do you know," said Aegis. "How 'bout this," said Wayne, "We rescue Ruby first, then ask her to compare our scythe wielding techniques." "Works for me," Replied Aegis as they continued pursuing the fleeing White Fang.

The cave shook with another explosion as a shot from one of Yang's gauntlets hit another explosive canister. "Easy there," said Wayne, "We don't need to bring the whole place down just yet." "Just blowing off some steam," said Yang as they rounded a corner around one of the abandoned buildings while they continued after the White Fang members. They came running out onto what appeared to be the main street of the abandoned underground city.

"Over there," said Blake, pointing forward as they continued to run. Looking where Blake was pointing, Wayne saw a familiar looking red hood in the distance, Ruby. Wayne also saw a figure wearing a familiar white coat and bowler hat, Roman Torchwick. Fortunately for Ruby, though, their arrival had distracted the cane-wielding criminal long enough for Ruby to leap onto of his head and shove his bowler hat over his eyes before making a break for the rest of the group. Torchwick, after getting his hat back up, and another small troop of White Fang soldiers tried shooting Ruby down as she ran.

These guys couldn't hit the broad side of a death stalker, thought Wayne as he watched Ruby bob and weave around the numerous bullets flying past her. Another squad of four White Fang soldiers suddenly ran out of one of the buildings in front of them, lining up and leveling their guns at Ruby, who was headed straight for them. Only one shot at this, thought Wayne as he positioned Crescent Rose's barrel downward at a diagonal angle behind him. Leaping and then firing a round off, the recoil sent Wayne flying twice the distance in half the time as he swung the weapon in midair, knocking two of the soldiers off their feet and against a nearby wall. The other two soldiers were quickly dispatched with a round from Yang's gauntlet.

"Ruby," Exclaimed Yang as the two sisters embraced each other happily. "Are you okay," asked Aegis. "I'm fine, I'm fine but listen," said Ruby, "Torchwick's got all sorts of weapons and robots down there." "What," asked Blake. "Androids, mechs, their all loaded up on the train cars," said Ruby as Wayne handed her weapon back to her.

"That's ridiculous these tunnels are sealed," said Oobleck, "The tracks lead to a dead end." As if on cue, the sound of an intercom switching on could be heard as Torchwick's voice broadcast over it. "Get to your places we are leaving now," said Torchwick over the intercom.

"Well it sounds like they're going somewhere," said Yang. "We need back up," said Ruby, "Let me call Jaune." Ruby's call didn't last long as her scroll read low signal on it. "I can't get through," exclaimed Ruby. "So what do we do?" Asked Weiss. "I believe we only have one option," said Oobleck. "We're stopping that train," declared Ruby.

Finding the train wasn't difficult, even without enhanced hearing Wayne and the others could've spotted the distinct sound of a large train starting up as it began rolling along the tracks. They barely had enough time to leap onto the back of the caboose as the train began rolling. Wayne, Oobleck and most of team RWBY managed to leap onto the train without being noticed. Aegis and Ruby, Unfortunately, weren't quite as stealthy as Aegis leaped onto the train with a loud thud while Ruby followed after him, leaving her trademark trail of rose petals as she boarded the now moving train. The noise and rose petals didn't go unnoticed by a single White Fang soldier who went for his radio before being swiftly knocked unconscious by Oobleck.

"We are not earning any points for stealth on this mission," said Wayne as they climbed up to the roof of the caboose. "You know I've never been good at being stealthy," said Aegis. "Alright children we must get to the front and stop this train," Said Oobleck. "Uh professor," said Weiss as she lifted up the roof hatch of the caboose. "Doctor," Oobleck corrected her. "What's that?" Asked Weiss, indicating a large, gray hexagon-like object with multicolored wires and tubes on it.

"I thought you of all people would recognize a bomb when you saw one," said Aegis, causing everyone to back up in surprise. "We've got baddies," Said Ruby as she pointed to a multitude of soldiers emerging from the roof hatches several cars up. "Well I didn't expect them to go-," Oobleck was interrupted by the sound of the bomb activating as the screen on it turned red and started blinking, "Easy on us, time to go."

As the two teams leaped off the caboose, Oobleck stopped Blake and instructed her to detach the caboose. Blake leaped down, but called back up only a couple of seconds later. "It decoupled itself," said Blake.

"I guess he really doesn't want us on this train," Said Yang. "Wouldn't be the first time I wasn't welcome on a train," said Aegis. After the caboose went a certain distance from the train it exploded, blowing a large hole in the tunnel. "That's not good," said Oobleck. "Neither is this," said Ruby, indicating another bomb under the train car hatch.

"Oh no," said Oobleck as he ran and leaped to the top of the next car, "No, no, no, no." Oobleck opened up the hatch on the next car and yelled back, "They all have bombs!" As Oobleck finished saying this, the train car that team RWBY and WA was on decoupled itself, forcing them to leap to the next car.

"This doesn't make sense," said Yang, tossing her arms in confusion. "I don't think those bombs are meant for us," said Wayne. "Well what else could they want to blow up?" Asked Aegis. Before Wayne could respond, the sound of more train car hatches could be heard opening as numerous White Fang soldiers made their way to the car they were on.

"Get the humans," yelled one of the White Fang members who was emerging from one of the hatches, a deer faunus girl. "Hey do you see the ears," yelled Aegis, "Some of us have Faunus lineage."

"Tell 'em about it later," said Wayne as he readied his weapons with everyone else. As the White Fang members approached, everyone except Oobleck leaped forward one at a time to dispatch their own section of soldiers. Yang pummeled her own group, Blake slashed through another, Weiss used a combination of ice and sword work, and Ruby leaped forward swinging her scythe, clearing a large number of the remaining soldiers. All the remaining soldiers were handled by Wayne and Aegis as Wayne leaped forward and spun, slashing high and low, sometimes knocking off three to four White Fang soldiers at a time, while Aegis formed glass ax blades and swung his weapon wide, knocking over several soldiers with each swing. By this point, another one of the detached train cars had exploded, creating another large hole in the train tunnel, only this time something came through the hole, Grimm.

"He's leading Grimm to the city," said Oobleck as the tunnels began to fill with more and more Grimm of every shape and size and all of whom were now pursuing the train. "What?" asked Weiss, yet again. "It's the cars," said Oobleck, "They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm."

"That's insane," said Blake as another train car detached from the train. "We have to hurry," said Oobleck as he started running towards the two teams, "You three," Oobleck indicated Blake, Weiss and Yang, "Go below and try to stop those cars."

"What about us," questioned Ruby as Wayne and Aegis gathered around her. "We're going to stop this train," Said Oobleck. "Yeah I know," said Ruby, "I said that earlier." A look of embarrassment crossed Oobleck's face. With a final nod, the three girls went below as Wayne, Aegis, Oobleck, Ruby, and Zwei, who had managed to tag along this far, began running over the top of one car after another as they made their way closer to the front of the train.

"Robot up ahead," yelled Aegis as a large machine leaped onto the train a few cars ahead of them. "They stockpiled Atlesian paladins," said Wayne. "That's a problem," said Oobleck as he pulled out his thermice, took a quick swig and converted it back into its club form, only this time he ignited a flame at the top. With an affirmative bark, Zwei leaped up as Oobleck swung and not only sent the small dog flying, but engulfed him in flames as well. The flaming Zwei fireball struck the front of the Atlesian paladin, knocking it off the train car and sending it tumbling alongside the train until it hit a wall and exploded in a shower of sparks and smoke. Another Atlesian paladin landed on the train car next to Zwei, its guns pointed threateningly at the little canine until Oobleck twirled his weapon and sent out several fireballs which impacted against the machine's armor.

With another flaming swing, Oobleck knocked the large mech off of the train, this one also exploding shortly after. "Now that's what I'm talking about," said Aegis excitedly. They had little time to celebrate, though, as yet another mech leaped onto the top of a train car in front of them.

"Our turn," said Wayne as he ran towards the mech, his brother close behind. "Up and over!" Yelled Wayne as he leaped into the air a short distance. As he did, Aegis held his weapon over his head, allowing Wayne to land on it before he pushed up, sending Wayne flying through the air and over the mech's head. As Wayne fell, he rolled forward and slashed with both of his weapons, releasing twin crescent shaped energy blasts which impacted on the back of the mech and sent it tumbling forward. Aegis was ready with the follow through as he swung and hit the mech's right foot, causing it to tumble over the side of the train. Three down, thought Wayne before the sound of a couple more thuds could be heard further up, and a train load more to go. The next mech was taken out by Ruby and Oobleck, who knocked it off balance with more fireballs as Ruby took out its footing with her scythe.

The one after that was taken out by Wayne and Aegis cutting both legs off at the joints using their semblances, sending it tumbling off the train. "We need to get over the mechs," Said Oobleck. "We might have a way," said Wayne as he signaled Aegis to get into position while they continued advancing one car at a time. As they approached the car which held all of the mechs, Wayne and Aegis moved in synchronous motions, swinging their weapons at the same time they both released the energy of their semblances creating a bright wave of energy which sent the mech tumbling down on top of several of the other mechs, knocking them over.

The three students and their teacher leaped on top of and over the temporarily immobilized mechs and onto the train car ahead. "Nice one," said Ruby. "It's a temporary solution," Replied Wayne, "They'll be back up soon enough." "And we'll knock 'em right back down," said Aegis. "No time to chatter," said Oobleck, "We still need to reach the front of this train."

The four of them managed to get a few cars ahead of the mechs before a few more from another car jumped onto the car in front of them. "How many of these mechs do they have?" Asked Ruby as they were forced to halt.

"Either too many or not enough," said Aegis. A loud thud could be heard as one of the mechs which had managed to slip out from beneath the pile behind them began advancing towards them. Standing back to back, with Wayne and Aegis facing the back and Ruby and Oobleck facing the front, they didn't have long to wait before the mechs closed in on them. Quickly enlarging his ax blades, Aegis swung up and hit the mech square on the cockpit, while Wayne went low and slashed at the left leg joint with his sickles, energized by his semblance. The leg gave way as Wayne's semblance cut through the joint, causing the mech to lean to the left. Aegis finished up by hitting the mech on its right side with his enlarged ax blade, knocking the mech off the car and sending it tumbling away on the ground below.

By this time Ruby and Oobleck had finished up with the mech on their side of the train as it went tumbling off the train car. "Ruby," said Oobleck, "You go on ahead." "But," Ruby tried to protest as the mechs from the back began approaching, finally free of the tangled pile they'd been in.

"Don't worry Ruby," said Oobleck, "It's time I teach them a lesson." As Aegis and Wayne prepared for another wave of mechs, Oobleck joined them. "You two need to head to the front as well," said Oobleck.

"Not quite yet Doctor," said Wayne, "We need to keep these things back so Ruby and the others can stop the train." Oobleck didn't have time to protest as the mechs were right on top of them now. Wayne dived between the legs of the first mech and let loose another blast of semblance on the second mech's upper leg joint, severing it and causing the mech to topple forward into the mech in front of it as Aegis and Oobleck hit the first mech with a combined fireball/flaming glass attack, which knocked both mechs off the train. As the third mech approached, Aegis switched to ice dust on his weapon and hit the mechs shoulder, freezing its joint and preventing it from bringing its arm down on Wayne. Oobleck followed up by landing on top of it and hitting the top with a flaming jab. Wayne finished up by hitting the mech on the side of the cockpit with a semblance powered kick, knocking it off the train.

"So how long was this track again," Asked Aegis. "Not long enough," said Wayne as he looked back towards the front of the train, and saw two massive steel doors signaling the end of the track. "Get below!" Yelled Oobleck as he, Wayne, Aegis, and for whatever reason Zwei, lifted up the nearest hatch and dove into the train car.

"Get on the floor," said Aegis. Everyone dropped to the floor as Aegis spun the ice dust on his weapon and slammed it onto the ground, creating a thin layer of ice that covered them. As the train impacted against the doors at the end of the tunnel, Wayne felt his body impact against the ice, causing it to break away and shatter as his back impacted against the wall in front of him. All Wayne saw after that was the top of the train car's ceiling before everything went black.

 **And cliffhanger, kind of anyway, but don't worry the action will continue next chapter as we wrap up volume two. As for volume three, don't worry, it'll be out soon enough. So thank you once again to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who have stuck with this story so far, it helps me knowing that people are entertained by my little story. 'Til next time.**


	25. Grimm Parade: End of Vol 2

**Grimm Parade: End of Volume 2**

Some Time Later: Mountain Glenn Train Tunnels

Ouch, was one of the first, and most civil, thoughts Wayne had as a small amount of light entered his vision. Slowly, everything started to come back into focus as Wayne tried to move. A dull, but irritating pain coursed through Wayne's body as he slowly turned over onto his stomach and tried to rise. Looking around, Wayne was able to spot Aegis, who was also regaining consciousness.

"You still alive over there?" Asked Wayne. "Well I can hear your annoying voice and my #$ hurts," replied Aegis, "So yeah I guess I'm still alive." Well at least he's okay, thought Wayne as he looked around for Oobleck and Zwei.

"Where's the doc and pup?" Asked Aegis as he and Wayne slowly rose to their feet. A bark outside the train alerted the both of them as they looked towards the train car door, which was now broken open thanks to the crash. Stumbling out the door, Wayne and Aegis looked around at the chaotic scene before them as the front of the train itself had rammed straight through the sealed doors and was sticking out of the tunnel. The rest of the cars were in varying states of disarray as the smell of dust and train fuel filled the air.

"Well the train's stopped anyway," said Aegis. "Yeah, but not where it should've stopped," Said Wayne. Another bark drew their attention as Wayne and Aegis finally saw the source of the sound. Zwei was standing next to a fairly torn up mech, which was now being worked on by Doctor Oobleck.

"Ah excellent, you two are finally awake," Said Oobleck as he tinkered with the inside of the Atlesian paladin. "How long were we out?" Asked Aegis. "Oh only about a couple minutes," Replied Oobleck, "Long enough, though, for the first wave of Grimm to enter the city."

"What's the plan for that thing?" Asked Wayne. "It is my hope that, should I bring this paladin back online I can use it to block the hole to a certain degree." "And the Grimm already in the city?" Asked Aegis.

"Why you'll need to do what you've been trained to do," said Oobleck, "Which reminds me, why are you two still standing around, get to the surface and help take care of those Grimm, I'll be up shortly." Wayne and Aegis nodded before turning to each other.

"You up for a few rounds of Grimm bashing right now?" Asked Wayne. Aegis smiled and formed his customary glass ax blades on his weapon, "Do you really need to ask?" Smiling back, Wayne and Aegis turned and ran for the exit which had been created by the train, leaping and climbing over several cars as they worked their way up until they finally exited the hole, right in the middle of the town square, and the most massive horde of Grimm Wayne had ever seen.

At the center of the Grimm horde, team RWBY was fighting ferociously for their lives. Wasting no time, Wayne and Aegis leapt into the fray, in front of a crater which had just been created by Yang falling out of the sky and onto the pavement. Wayne opened fire with his own weapons, clearing a small swath of Creeper Grimm out of the area as Aegis spun fire dust on his weapon and cleaved several other Grimm in half with flaming blades.

"You can sleep later," yelled Aegis, "We still have a lot of Grimm to kill." "Yeah yeah," said Yang as she pulled herself out of the crater and readied herself for another onslaught of Grimm, "I'm up I'm up."

As the next wave of Grimm approached, beowulves this time, Aegis leaped to one side of the pack and began hacking through them as Yang and Wayne opened fire on them with both their weapons. Several beowulves fell before they could get close to them, but eventually the Grimm who had been lucky enough to avoid getting hit got close enough to lunge at them, forcing Yang and Wayne to move apart as they switched to close rang fighting, Yang punching away in all directions, while Wayne switched his Crescent Fangs to sickle mode and hacked and slashed left and right, all while avoiding claws and fangs coming at him from all directions.

Wayne wasn't sure at what point it happened, but at some point during the ferocious melee, the Grimm had managed to separate them completely as they continued desperately avoiding and slashing through Grimm. Suddenly, a loud boom sounded, causing some of the Grimm to stop and look in the air. I know that sound, thought Wayne as he looked up and saw Nora suddenly flying into view on her hammer, which she promptly brought down on the head of the giant snake Grimm known as a King Taijitsu. I guess team JNPR got the message after all, thought Wayne as he caught glimpses of Pyrrha, Ren, and even Jaune joining the fray. Soon enough, Sun and Neptune also showed up to lend a hand, flashing their junior detective badges for some ridiculous reason.

Well this is getting a bit better, thought Wayne as he noticed exhaustion creeping in, but we still got problems. He'd been using his semblance repeatedly today for fighting the Atlesian paladins, which was why he was only shooting and slashing right now. If we're gonna contain this we need more help, thought Wayne. As if on cue, the sound of a giant air ship suddenly filled the air as General Ironwood's massive warship came looming over the city and completely stealing the thunder from Sun and Neptune's 'heroic' entrance. Multiple small gunships also came flying over the city, following in the wake of the main airship.

Loud gunfire filled the air as the main guns of a few of the military craft opened fire, cutting down several Grimm, including an ursa which had nearly caught Ruby from behind. The remaining gunships which weren't unloading on the Grimm opened their rear doors as several white robot soldiers armed with assault rifles leaped out in formation and opened fire on the numerous Grimm as they landed effortlessly on the ground below. So those are the new Atlesian android soldiers, thought Wayne as he slashed through another group of Grimm, now we can win this. As the chaos on the street continued to ensue, Wayne also noticed a few more unexpected arrivals.

From around one of the corners, Emerald's group emerged and split up to take on the Grimm as well. Wayne managed to slash his way closer to the new arrivals in time to see Emerald shoot down several beowulves and an ursa, before leaping away from a larger ursa major. She might need help, thought Wayne as he decapitated another beowolf. But the green-haired girl was more than a match for the ursa major as she switched her weapons to their sickle mode and spun around, slashing the ursa major several times, then, retreating a couple feet, swung her weapons again, revealing the weapon's chain links as she unleashed another volley of deadly slashes, killing the Grimm before it even hit the ground. Well so much for that, thought Wayne until he saw one of the borbatusk which had bashed through the android soldiers rolling towards Emerald, or maybe not.

Leaping a few feet in front of Emerald, Wayne had just enough time to channel his semblance into his blades and slash forward, cutting the rolling borbatusk down the center as its two halves rolled past on either side of Wayne, unfortunately getting several splotches of Grimm blood on his coat and helmet.

"I had that one," said Emerald. "Yeah I know," said Wayne, trying to brush some of the blood off his coat, "Just thought I'd swing by and say hi." "Well since you're here," said Emerald as she walked up next to Wayne to face the next wave of charging Grimm, "I guess so long as you don't get in the way you can help," said Emerald.

"Sure, how about a suggestion," said Wayne as the charging Grimm neared, "You ever performed the phases of the moon?" "You mean that sickle form that requires a partner?" Replied Emerald, "I was forced to practice it a couple times." "Let's see what you remember," Said Wayne as the two of them took mirrored fighting stances. As the Grimm approached, the two fighters leaped into the middle of the Grimm, bringing their sickles down on two ursa, before standing back to back.

As the surprised Grimm turned towards them, the two fighters moved in sequence as they spun while keeping their backs to each other, slashing high and low as they advanced forward. After slashing through the first several nearby Grimm, more Grimm tried leaping at them from farther way. Wayne attached his wrist wires to his weapons as Emerald readied the chains on hers. While continuing their rotating blade dance, they swung out with their linked weapons, slashing several more Grimm out of midair. Reeling their weapons back in, the two fighters slashed at the midsections of the remaining Grimm. All that remained of the Grimm at the end of their dance was a pile of black furred bodies all cut to shreds.

"You know this isn't how I imagined our third dance," said Emerald. "A blood spattered coat and piles of dead Grimm do ruin the mood a bit don't they," replied Wayne. "I don't know," said Emerald, "The blood smell is kind of nice when it's fresh." "I guess it's only fair you get to sniff me too," Said Wayne teasingly. "Just keep killing Grimm," said Emerald in a half playful, half annoyed tone.

This is fantastic, thought Aegis as he cleaved through another Beowulf. White Fang, mech suits, and a horde of Grimm all in the same day, this was exactly what I'd hoped being a huntsman would be like. Aegis slashed through another Beowulf as it lunged at him, splitting it in half, only this time he was a bit slower. Wish I wasn't starting to get really tired though, thought Aegis. Even with the backup they were receiving from Ironwood's androids, JNPR, and Emerald's team, a few of the tougher, or at least luckier Grimm, were still trying to run amok.

Suddenly, the giant shadow of a deathstalker loomed behind Aegis, forcing him to leap forward and away from the large scorpion Grimm, barely avoiding its large yellow stinger. What a day, thought Aegis. The sound of another bullhead entering the area sounded, breaking Aegis's thoughts as he looked up to see who else had decided to show up to the party. That bullhead's from Beacon, thought Aegis as the doors opened, revealing Professor Port and the four members of team CFVY. Of all the people to show up, thought Aegis as he dodged and cleaved through an ursa, they were the last I expected to show up late.

Late, as Aegis saw however, didn't mean team CFVY didn't have something to contribute to this chaos. As they leaped from the bullhead, Aegis saw Yatsuhashi clear a horde of Grimm by slamming his massive orange sword on the ground, sending debris, and Grimm, flying in all directions. Velvet and Fox made an impressive display of their hand to hand combat abilities as they punched and kicked several Grimm into submission, Fox even used one of his special moves which caused an Ursa major to expand and explode, showering other nearby Grimm with the spikes which had once adorned its body.

Not bad Fo-, oh # #, thought Aegis as he saw Coco stepping forward with her usual confident stride as she effortlessly knocked a large beowulf's claws aside, kicked it in the junk and smashed its head with her hand bag. What's got her in such a, oh that explains it, thought Aegis as he watched Coco bash through a few more beowulves with her hand bag. The vicious creatures of Grimm had made a terrible mistake by destroying one of the few places in the city of Vale where Coco was almost always happy, her favorite clothing store, and now they were paying for it as Coco finally unveiled the terrifying secret of her hand bag, its ability to transform into a Gatling gun.

The weapon produced an incredible repeating tempo as it fired off dozens of rounds in mere seconds, ripping up death stalkers, bewoluves, nevermores, and anything else unfortunate enough to be in front of Coco as she continued spraying the area with fully automatic fire until all the Grimm in front of her were dead. Good thing she's got the Grimm to take her anger out on, thought Aegis, or that might've been me and Wayne. It was at that moment that Aegis saw another Ursa Major heading towards team CFVY on their right flank. Aegis spun the fire dust on his weapon and ran towards the Ursa Major as two flaming blades formed on his weapon.

I know they can handle it, thought Aegis, but it's a good way to let them know I'm here. Leaping into the air, Aegis cleaved off the head of the Ursa Major which went tumbling off of its body and rolling right past the feet of team CFVY.

"What took you guys," asked Aegis jokingly, "the idea is to show up just before or right at the same time as the cavalry, did you have to stop for one of Professor Port's stories or something?"

"Some of us were enjoying our down time," Replied Coco as the rest of team CFVY ran on ahead, "Need I remind you we just got back from our mission yesterday, and we'd still be relaxing if someone had managed to stop this little incident, which reminds me," Coco swung her Gatling gun right next to Aegis, forcing the half-bear faunus to leap back in surprise as Coco opened fire on a few nearby Grimm which had somehow managed to slip by the rest of team CFVY, ripping them to shreds.

"When we're through with this I still need to kick you and your brother's $$#$ for messing up our training area." "Oh yeah," said Aegis, "About that." "Save it for later," said Coco, "Right now we have Grimm to kill, so don't you dare die." Joy, thought Aegis, oh well at least she seems like she's in a better mood for now.

Wayne slashed through another Creeper which had leapt at him with its fangs bared. They're numbers have really gone down, thought Wayne, just a couple more groups of Grimm left. Another Beowulf tried charging Wayne, only to be cut down by Emerald when it got close.

"Not getting tired are you?" Emerald asked playfully. "Maybe a bit winded," replied Wayne, "I did have to fight soldiers and mechs before this." Wayne quickly lifted up his weapon and fired at a Creeper which had landed behind Emerald.

"But, I think I got a couple more killing sprees in me," said Wayne as more Grimm approached. Suddenly the air grew hot as two flaming spheres came flying through the air, forcing the two students to leap out of the way as they ripped through the Grimm.

"That was Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck," said Wayne, "The Doc finally made it out." "Yeah but is their aim typically that bad?" asked Emerald. "They probably haven't fought in a cramped city space in a while," Replied Wayne. Before Emerald could say another word on the matter, a Beowulf went flying over their heads as Wayne heard the familiar sound of heels hitting the pavement. Goodwitch, thought Wayne as another Grimm went flying over their heads. Looking around, Wayne located the assistant headmaster as she waved her weapon in the air, causing all of the rubble from the train wreck to start floating back to the breach in the ground.

It was like watching the crash in reverse as rocks fit together like puzzle pieces and the main train car was forced downward, back into the tunnel from which it came. "I see why you weren't so worried about breaking stuff in Beacon," said Emerald, "With someone like that to clean up your messes."

"Yeah it's handy," said Wayne as they stood up, "But she still chews us out for breaking stuff in the first place." "Well look on the bright side," said Emerald, "at least this one wasn't completely your fault." "Actually if it wasn't for the Grimm," replied Wayne, "This would've been about average on the destruction scale for me and my brother back at Signal."

Emerald could only shake her head before speaking again, "How did you guys ever make it through Signal and Sanctum?" "Well we had to get kicked out of Signal first," Replied Wayne as he stepped forward then stumbled and would've landed on his face if Emerald hadn't caught him.

"Wo now easy," said Emerald, "You're not looking so good." "No kidding," Replied Wayne as he opened the mouth guard on his helmet and removed it, "All the adrenalines wearing off and I've had to use my semblance repeatedly the last two days, so to say I'm exhausted is an understate-," Suddenly the sound of someone else groaning could be heard.

"What the heck, since when does a hole close itself up?" said a familiar, and unpleasant voice. Near where the crater had closed, a figure in a white coat and black bowler hat was trying to crawl away from the scene.

"Roman Torchwick I presume," said Wayne as he pointed his right weapon, the arm that wasn't being supported by Emerald at Torchwick, while Emerald pointed the weapon in her left hand at Torchwick. "Oh hey I was just," Torchwick tried to respond before Aegis and Mercury's booted feet dropped down in front of him, blocking his way from escaping down the alley.

"Just what?" Asked Aegis as he swung his weapon into his own palm repeatedly. "Not trying to crawl away unnoticed," said Torchwick. "Don't worry," said Mercury, "I hear you do a lot of crawling in the local prisons."

"And not the fun kind," said Emerald. "But if you still feel like crawling away here," said Wayne, "We still got a few dust rounds left with your name on them." "So what's it gonna be?" Asked Aegis.

This hurts, thought Wayne as he leaned his back against the interior of the bullhead as he watched everyone else gather around outside the bullheads, congratulating each other and telling each other good job, and other assorted words of praise, even Emerald was up talking to Ruby with a friendly smile on her face.

"Well isn't this just something," said a familiar female voice as Coco stepped into Wayne's field of vision, "Don't tell me you went through the trouble of exhausting yourselves just to avoid a beat down from me." "Believe me this was not part of the plan for the weekend," Replied Wayne.

"Well don't worry," said Coco, "I got something just as good for you and your brother when I find him." Coco pulled out her scroll, tapped on a few keys and pulled up what looked like a video before showing it to Wayne.

"Though I gotta say," said Coco, "I could've sworn you said you couldn't dance." Wayne's face contorted into a number of expressions as realization, shock, and then utter embarrassment spread across it. On Coco's scroll was a video of Wayne and Aegis performing the dance they used for luring Grimm, and they looked, as Wayne expected, ridiculous.

"Okay who sent you that?" Asked Wayne. "If you must know," said Coco putting her scroll back in her pocket, "Velvet sent it to me." "Why Velvet," Wayne groaned loudly. "I'm sorry," said Velvet from several feet away, having heard Wayne's complaint with her large rabbit ears, "Blake sent it to me and well, Coco kind of made me send it to her." "Why Blake," Wayne groaned again, "Why?"

Fortunately for Wayne and Aegis, all the bullheads heading back to Beacon had taken off shortly after Coco's little video showcase. Wayne and Aegis spent most of the ride sleeping, which wasn't long as it only took a few minutes to get back to Beacon from the center of the city. When they finally arrived back at Beacon, Wayne and Aegis headed back up to their dorm as the rest of the teams separated across the campus.

"Well that was something else," said Aegis as he set some of his armor plating next to him on the roof of their dorm, "Do you think first missions typically end that way?" "I doubt it," said Wayne as he set his helmet next to him, "But at least it gives us one heck of a story for Mom and Dad the next time we talk to them."

"Yeah, but I'm probably gonna leave out the part about you and me dancing." Said Aegis. "Please," said Wayne, "Though somehow I think Mom and Dad will find out one way or the other." "Oh yeah," said Aegis nervously as he pulled out his weapon and laid it next to him.

"What do you think the point of letting Grimm into the city was?" Asked Wayne. "You got me," said Aegis, "I never could understand the criminal types, why does it matter anyway." "Ah just a feeling," said Wayne, "We know not everyone behind this has been caught yet and there's still a ## $ load of questions that haven't been answered, it just doesn't feel like whatever is going on is over."

"Well there's not a lot of point in worrying about it at the moment," said Aegis, "We beat the bad guys today and if more happen to pop up again, we'll beat them too." Wayne smiled half-heartedly at the remark.

"Now if you'll excuse me," said Aegis, "I am in severe need of a shower." With that, Aegis picked up his weapon and armor and headed back down into the building. Wayne sat on the roof just a little while longer, lost in thought as he surveyed the campus. We won today, he thought as he spotted team RWBY sitting on the edge of the airfield trying to relax, and if we can keep it together we can win again, so bring it on, we'll be waiting. Smirking to himself a little, Wayne got up and headed back down into the building, catching his own scent as he entered the stairwell. Man, Aegis ain't the only one in need of a proper bath, hope I don't smell this bad at the Vytal festival.

End of Volume 2

 **Team WA has made it through another volume, with a few bumps and bruises, but that's part of the journey right. As always I'd like to thank all my reviewers, followers, and viewers on another milestone as this story has not only gotten through volume 2 but also 2,500 views and counting. So if you've stuck around this long, thanks and be sure to come on by as team WA fights in the Vytal Festival Tournament, make new friends as well as new enemies, and fight for their lives and everyone else in Vale as Cinder's true plot is finally unveiled. 'Til next time.**


	26. 2 Can Be As Bad As 4

**2 Can Be As Bad As 4**

Team WA Volume 3: The Vytal Festival

I missed this, thought Wayne as he sniffed the air of the woods while sitting several feet up on a large tree branch. It had been some time since he'd been able to visit home, one of the downsides of living in a town outside of Vale, but it made it even more worthwhile when he could make it home. Though his and Aegis's welcome had been happy at first, with the usual hugs and welcome back wishes, it took a bit of an interesting turn after they got back to the house. Mom and Dad, though happy to see the both of them, still laid into them a bit about tearing up yet another training room, despite having done this once already on a video call, and warning them about what could happen if they got kicked out of Beacon.

After Wayne and Aegis assured their parents they understood, the next part was training/punishment. The next day he and Aegis had to break apart several large boulders with their semblances until they couldn't use them effectively anymore, then put on heavy training equipment and spar with their parents, Wayne against his dad's dual tomahawks and Aegis against their Mom's steel fists. Needless to say it was a beat down. Wayne tensed a little as he felt some of the still slightly bruised parts of his body. Great to be bruised up the day before going back for the festival, thought Wayne.

"Wayne, time to leave, you all packed?" Said a voice from below. "Packed and loaded," said Wayne as he leaped down from the tree branch, "Just waitin' on ya'll." "Well don't forget this," he said as he tossed Wayne's helmet to him, which Wayne snatched out of the air as it was tossed to him.

"I adjusted the filter on the mouth guard, you shouldn't have any more problems with it jamming during training sessions." "Thanks Dad," said Wayne as he hung his helmet on its customary spot on the back of his waist. "You'll need it working properly for what you got coming up," said his Father, Tobias Ursario.

"Yeah, remind me to knock Aegis upside the head again before we leave," said Wayne nonchalantly. "You're brother believes in your abilities, otherwise he wouldn't have signed the two of you up," stated Tobias. "I know Dad," replied Wayne, "I just wished he would've talked to me about it first is all."

"Well what's done is done, and besides you've improved more than you think, so the only thing to do now is show the world what kind of a huntsman you are," Tobias said. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," said Wayne, "I'm still just a huntsman in training." "So are the rest of them, so it should be an even fight," replied his father. "Even," said Wayne with a hint of sarcasm, "if that's what you want to call it, either way we best get going before Mom gets tired of waiting."

Vytal festival: The Next Day

"I still can't believe you did this," said Wayne as he finished checking his Crescent Fang and returned it to the holster under his coat. "Really, you should've seen this coming a mile away," Replied Aegis as they continued walking down a long metal corridor.

"I knew you wanted to enter Aegis, and I expected all number of tricks from you to try and convince me that entering was a good idea, but this," Wayne emphasized by raising both of his hands in the air, "you didn't even bother giving me a call or telling me until after we got home."

"Well you see I considered all number of tricks to get you to enter with me, but when I ran 'em through my head all I got was either you refusing, or that it would take too much work," replied Aegis. "So you're solution was to enter us both behind my back, how'd you even convince them to let a two-person team fight in the first round, against four person teams," exclaimed Wayne.

"You may not realize it Wayne, but you and I do actually know a couple of influential people," Replied Aegis. "We don't owe anyone any big favors now do we?" Asked Wayne as they stopped at an exit with sunlight flowing in.

"Don't worry about that right now," replied Aegis as he brought his fist to his open hand, "Right now we only need to focus on one thing." "How I'm going to beat your ## when this is over," said Wayne as he pulled out his helmet. "No, beating other people's ##$$ while the world watches," Replied Aegis. "No pressure then," said Wayne as he donned his helmet.

Stepping out as one, Wayne and Aegis were greeted by a massive amount of noise as an enormous crowd sat in the stadium above them. No pressure, right, thought Wayne, marveling at the size of the stadium and the crowd as he and Aegis entered a large arena surrounded by multiple metal plates. What was a bigger surprise, though, was the four person team across from them.

"Aegis is that who I think it is?" Asked Wayne. "Yep," replied Aegis. "Where's the rest of your team!" Yelled the blond-haired leader of the enemy team. "It's the team we beat up at that book store when we were looking for Blake," Said Wayne, noting that this time they actually had their weapons and combat armor.

"Hey the head man asked you a question!" Yelled the purple haired member of the other team. Aegis was about to respond when the sound of Professor Ports voice rang out over the stadium's intercom system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our next match in round one of the Vytal festival tournament shall be a rare spectacle, a specialized 2 on 4 bout featuring the fighters of Atlas's team LNCE (Lance) against Beacon's one and only support team, team WA (Wave)," boomed Port.

"There's your answer," yelled Wayne at the other team as he and Aegis drew their weapons. Suddenly several holographic banners appeared floating several feet in the air around the arena. "Stick together and don't let them get behind us," said Wayne.

"I know, split up only when necessary, use the terrain to our advantage, keep in communication," said Aegis. "And don't underestimate them," said Wayne. The banners finally stopped on an image, the picture of a forest. "We beat 'em once already," said Aegis as the banners began cycling through images again.

"You sucker-punched the first guy before he got his aura up," Said Wayne, "and they underestimated our hand to hand abilities, this time they have their weapons and they won't be taken by surprise twice." "Sure they will," said Aegis as the banners stopped on a second image, the symbol of a snowflake,"We just gotta hit 'em with a different kind of surprise."

Suddenly the metal plates around the arena opened as a forested landscape rose up behind the enemy team, and an icy land scape rose up behind Wayne and Aegis. Here we go, thought Wayne as he and Aegis took a fighting stance. In another moment the signal sounded, and the two teams charged at each other.

Wayne went for the two opponents on the right, one wielding a large studded club, the other wielding two ring-blade weapons, while Aegis took the two opponents on the left, one wielding a spear and the other wielding a battle-axe. Wayne opened fire at the two opponents with both Crescent Fangs, one for each opponent.

The ring-blade guy blocked and dodged while the club guy blocked the brunt of it with his weapon and took the rest of the hits with his armor. Tough guy, thought Wayne as he shifted his weapons to sickle form. The club guy reached Wayne first and swung his club horizontally, but Wayne was able to spin low beneath the blow and knock his opponent's feet out from under him with his sickles.

Tough but a bit slow, thought Wayne before leaping back from a ring blade aimed at his head. This guy's a bit faster though, thought Wayne as he blocked a series of quick jabs and slashes. By this time the club guy had gotten back up and was charging again. Wayne let himself be pushed back a little by the ring blade wielder and waited for just the right moment as the club guy swung again. Wayne leaped back and over the club wielder, who spun around with another swing at Wayne's head, which he barely dodged by stepping back.

Wayne barely had a moment to regain his footing before the ring wielder leaped over the club guy, swinging both weapons downward. Wayne blocked both weapons with his sickles and kicked the ring wielder in the chest, knocking him back and into the club wielder, who shoved his teammate to the side and charged at Wayne swinging his club downwards. Wayne sidestepped while catching the blow on his right weapon, letting it fall, causing his opponent to stumble past him while Wayne slashed at his back with his left sickle, knocking his opponent over.

This guy's got thick armor, thought Wayne, must be reinforcing it with his aura or semblance. Movement on his left side caught his attention as the ring wielder was back slashing at Wayne's head and midsection. Wayne blocked the first blow, backed away to dodge the second, then blocked several more blows until the ring wielder suddenly leaped back again.

Wayne had just enough time to notice and bring his weapons up to block a vicious horizontal strike from the club wielder, which knocked him backwards and off balance, giving the ring wielder an opening to attack. Wayne rolled back to avoid the first attack from the ring wielder and shifted his weapons back to their SMG form as he stood on one knee and opened fire at both opponents, taking them by surprise and forcing them to back up for a second.

This ain't working, thought Wayne as he stole a glance to see that Aegis was holding his own but not really getting anywhere. Guess I have to use my semblance, and a new plan of attack. Wayne stopped firing and began running for the forested area of the stadium.

"Aegis we take 'em in the woods," yelled Wayne. "Got it," he heard Aegis yell a second later as he knocked the ax wielder back and ran towards Wayne. "Don't tell me you're chickening out already," Wayne heard one member of team LNCE yell.

"What's the plan," asked Aegis as they neared the trees. "We go up," said Wayne as he leapt onto one of the nearby tree branches. Aegis followed, jumping onto a tree a few feet away. The two brothers ascended several more branches before leaping forward with the members of team LNCE jumping up after them. Landing on a large top branch, Wayne ran to the end of the branch in Aegis's direction, charging his semblance as he ran.

"I got your guys," said Wayne as he released a slash of energy from his weapon, which impacted against the guys chasing Aegis, knocking them from the tree. "And I got yours," yelled Aegis, leaping over Wayne's head with a flame-charged ax, knocking the club-wielder into the ring wielder and off the branch. The brothers landed on opposite branches and watched as their opponents tumbled to the ground, hitting a few branches on the way down.

"Ho ho," yelled Professor Port over the stadium speakers, "It seems team WA has temporarily outwitted team LNCE." "Could they really not find any actual announcers?" Asked Aegis. "Considering the size of the festival, you'd think so," answered Wayne before his attention was directed downward once again as the tree suddenly shook violently. Wayne looked to see a large chunk of the tree he was on had been taken out by club wielder.

"Time to go," said Wayne as he leaped off the branch and to another tree. Almost as soon as Wayne landed on another branch, a ring blade came flying through the air and slashed through the branch he was on, causing him to plummet. Wayne quickly connected his wrist wire to his right weapon and tossed it, catching it on a tree as he swung through the air and landed a short distance away on the forest floor as the tree behind him crashed to the ground.

Wayne looked back to see all of team LNCE charging at him. Guess they had to grow brains eventually, thought Wayne as he charged his semblance again. Suddenly the form of Aegis dropped down in the middle of team LNCE, jamming a flaming trident blade into the ground. Three members of the opposing team managed to jump and roll away as Aegis knocked the ax-wielder of the group forward onto the ground.

"Up and over bro," yelled Wayne as he released his semblance. Aegis leapt over just in time as Wayne's semblance impacted against the other three off-balance members of team LNCE, knocking them all backward.

"A little close there bro," said Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon and formed a stone flail. "You could've taken that one," said Wayne. "Yeah sure," said Aegis sarcastically as he spun around with a powerful two-handed swing and knocked the ax-wielder several feet away and into a tree, creating a person-shaped crater in the tree.

"What a hit, elimination by aura depletion," Roared Professor Port's voice over the speakers. "This puts a new spin on tree-hugger," Said Oobleck, chiming in on the speakers. Wayne and Aegis groaned at the joke as the other members of team LNCE rose to their feet.

"Okay, now we try one of my ideas, this way" said Aegis as he took off towards the edge of the forest where the grass met the ice. Wayne followed after him, glancing over his shoulder to see the remaining three members of team LNCE. Making their way over onto the icy field, Aegis signaled for the two of them to stop on a flat portion of the stadium.

"So other than trying to not slip and fall, what's the plan here?" Asked Wayne. "You remember all those mornings we had to spend training in that thick mist," asked Aegis. "Yeah, you kept hitting me on 'accident'," Replied Wayne as he saw the three members of team LNCE coming from three separate directions.

"Well are you up for the polar bear?" Asked Aegis. "Yeah, if we get a new name for it," Said Wayne. "Just wait for it," said Aegis as he spun the fire cylinder on his weapon while Wayne gathered energy in his hand. When the opposing team was practically right on top of them was when Aegis gave the signal.

"Now," Aegis yelled as he and Wayne slammed their weapons on the ground, the resulting heat creating a massive amount of steam as they rolled out of the way. The sound of weapons slamming against the ground where the two brothers had just been reached Wayne's ears as he and Aegis circled around in opposite directions. Locating the opposing team was fairly easy thanks to the sound of their panicked voices.

Wayne smiled to himself as he attached his wrist wires and tossed both of his Crescent Fangs, grabbing onto one of the unfortunate members of team LNCE and dragging them away from the group. "Oh no you don'-," The random member didn't have time to finish his sentence as Wayne stomped on his chest with a semblance infused foot and knocked him in the head with the back end of one of his weapons for good measure.

The sound of an ice ax shattering against a body could be heard as Aegis knocked another member away and into a nearby ice wall, quickly moving out of sight as he did so. "Where are you," yelled the remaining member of team LNCE, the blond-haired leader by the sound of it.

"Oh nowhere in particular," Said Aegis as the steam cleared enough for them to see. "Just in the wrong place for you," said Wayne as he and Aegis simultaneously punched the leader in the face, sending him skidding across the ice and out of the ring.

"And that's the match, by stunning upset team WA is victorious!" Roared Port as the crowd burst into massive cheering. "Did we actually just win?" Asked Wayne, surprised he wasn't breathing as hard as usual, or had expected.

"I told you we could do it!" Exclaimed Aegis as he hit Wayne on the back, "Now come on, smile and wave." Wayne could only roll his eyes as he just started waving in a random direction while his younger brother began show boating. "Don't overdo it Aegis, this is just round one," said Wayne.

The Crow Bar: Same Time

"Well that was something else," said the owner of a small establishment known as the Crow Bar as he turned to one of his patrons who had just returned from a trip to the restroom. "Ya just missed it," said the bar owner. "Missed what, a four on two beat down, this festival tournament used to have rules about fair play," said the Patron, a man with grayish black hair, very noticeable stubble, a gray jacket with black pants and a tattered red cape.

"But that's the amazing part, the two man team actually beat the four man team," Said the Bar Owner as he pointed at the TV, which was going over the post-match stats of team WA's victory.

"Wait did they say that team was made up of Wayne and Aegis Ursario?" Asked the Patron. "Yeah, word is those two are some kind of support team, but they pack more of a punch than some of the other four person teams I've seen so far," said the owner of the Crow Bar.

"Oh they pack a punch alright," said the Patron, "The kind of punch which can wreck training rooms, expensive equipment, and cause paper work to skyrocket and headaches lasting for days," The Patron held his head in his hands as he said this, "I'm gonna need another drink."

Vytal Festival Stadium: Some Time Later

"Alright let me see if I got this straight," said Wayne as Aegis sat down in the stadium seat next to him with a large compliment of fried fish kabobs, "You managed to convince not one, but two teachers, Pyrrha, and Coco to vouch for our combat abilities in order to get Ozpin to allow us to compete in the tournament with the promise that if we were allowed to enter we would first fight one of the lower ranking teams in order to make the match more even."

"Yeah I've explained this two or three times now," replied Aegis. "I'm still just trying to wrap my head around it, typically your form of persuasion involves you swinging your weapon all over the place," said Wayne. "I can be convincing without waving my weapon around, it just takes a lot longer and I usually don't have the patience for it," Said Aegis.

"Apparently you can be patient when it means you get the chance to fight," Said Wayne. "Can you really sit here and tell me you're not enjoying being in another tournament after so long," questioned Aegis as he handed Wayne one of the fish kabobs.

"Still deciding, so let's just watch the next match for now, Emerald's team is up," said Wayne before taking a bite out of the fish kabob. The two brothers ate in silence while the announcements were made for the match. As the match began, it became obvious pretty quickly that Emerald's team had the superior fighters, and a fourth dark-haired girl with green eyes, two-long pig tails, a black and white outfit which looked like something a maid would wear in the summer whom Wayne had never seen before.

"You ever see that dark-haired girl around Beacon?" Asked Wayne. "Believe me if I had seen a girl with a sadistic smile like that walking around campus, I'd remember it," replied Aegis.

"The rest of Emerald's team seems kind of sadistic, and that guy just got his face stepped on," Said Wayne as he watched the green-eyed girl basically stomp on one of the opposing team members heads.

"So how much you lookin' forward to fightin' them?" Asked Aegis. "About as much as I was when I first found out we were in the tournament," Replied Wayne. "So not really?" Asked Aegis. "No Aegis, not really," Groaned Wayne.

The next match was team RWBY vs. ABRN, a match which saw Aegis yelling at the top of his lungs as they watched it unfold. Soon enough, though, team RWBY managed to outmaneuver team ABRN and claimed victory, prompting Aegis to jump for joy while Wayne applauded happily.

"Now that was a match," said Aegis as he and Wayne made their way out of the stadium seats. "It was a lot less one-sided than the last one," said Wayne, "And a bit more entertaining."

"Well let's hurry up and find them so we can congratulate them," said Aegis, "And find more food, I'm still starving." "Promise me you won't charge at any stands which happen to have any honey related food," Said Wayne.

"I can only promise that I will try to resist my primal need for honey," replied Aegis, "But one can only halt nature for so long." "Did you stay up all night coming up with that," asked Wayne. "Only half the night," quipped Aegis. "Well I hope you spent the other half thinking of a good explanation for Vytal festival security," said Wayne, "Because I am not helping you out if you get in trouble for honey theft."

 **And here it is, Volume 3 has arrived. As always a great big thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've kept up with this story so far. Stop in next time as Wayne and Aegis give their commentary on tournament fighting.**


	27. Festival Food Time

**Festival Food Time**

Vytal Festival: Fairgrounds

The walk to the fairgrounds was fairly uneventful as Wayne and Aegis made their way through the crowd and around the maze of stands filled with items ranging anywhere from food, to jewelry, to exotic trinkets from other kingdoms, and of course specially made clothing with the Vytal festival decal. Finding the girls was proving difficult, until they heard the sound of a young girl screaming with excitement as she leaped up into the air with her red cape and hood standing out, before dropping back down to the ground, leaning over with exhaustion.

"Is anyone else starving?" They heard Ruby say as they approached from behind, still unnoticed. "I may have worked up an appetite," Blake replied, before a massive rumbling sound drew their attention. Wayne looked to his side to see Aegis had his hands over his mouth and was using a rather clumsy Grimm call to imitate the sound of a rumbling stomach.

"You need to work on that," said Wayne. Another rumbling sound drew their attention back to Blake, who was holding her stomach. "Ok that one wasn't me," said Aegis. "Wayne, Aegis!" Yelled Yang and Ruby as they finally noticed the two brothers. "Yeah we're here," said Wayne, "Aegis was still hungry."

"Gee if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here," said Weiss, raising her hands to indicate all the stalls around them, "Oh wait." "It's okay Weiss, I forget about the fairgrounds too," said Ruby. "I was being facetious," said Weiss. "Well if you were hungry why didn't you say so!" exclaimed Ruby as she waved her arms in the air in frustration.

"Probably because she's-ooof," Aegis's sentence was cut off as Wayne elbowed his brother in the ribs. "What, I was gonna say she had to be high class about it," whispered Aegis as he rubbed his rib. "Come on, I know a place," said Yang as she started off in a random direction with the rest of teams RWBY and WA following her.

"Hey, might be hard to eat without this," said a familiar voice as everyone turned to see Emerald holding Ruby's wallet. Ruby, panicking, checked all her pockets and found that her wallet was indeed missing. "Good to see you Ruby," said Emerald, after laughing a little at Ruby's panicked state.

"Oh, thanks Emerald," said Ruby as she accepted her wallet and returned it to her back pocket, "I must've dropped it, oh girl pockets are the worst." "Yeah Aegis knows-ooof," Wayne's sentence was cut off this time as Aegis elbowed him in the ribs. "It was one time," said Aegis. "What's up Em," Said Yang.

"Just left the stadium after watching your amazing fights, you guys were awesome," said Emerald, making Ruby mumble in mock humility. "What can I say, some of us just radiate awesomeness," said Aegis. "Team RWBY was awesome," said Wayne, "You and I were lucky we got matched against a lower ranking team." Aegis rolled his eyes at his brother's comment. "I heard your team progressed to the next round too," said Blake to Emerald. "You know I feel like we never see your other teammates," said Weiss.

"How'd they do in the fight?" Asked Yang. Emerald looked thoughtful for a moment, with a slightly mischievous look before answering, "Really well," Said Emerald. "That's putting it mildly," said Wayne. "That's great," said Ruby, "Why don't we all go out and get some victory food together." "Oh gosh that's so nice of you, but my teammates are kind of introverted," said Emerald, looking back over to where her teammate Mercury was at another stall, sniffing a boot, "Really socially awkward."

"Look I know he can't form complete sentences," said Wayne, "But I've got experience dealing with that." "Yeah I imagine you have," said Emerald, with a slight chuckle. "Hey try the pair three down on the left!" Yelled Aegis at Mercury, "It's gotta nice country fresh scent and it doesn't rub against your ankles." Mercury looked back with a confused look before going back to looking through the boots at the stall.

"See socially awkward," said Emerald. "Yeah I can see that," said Yang. "So it seems Merc and I are going to be moving on to the doubles round," said Emerald, "What about you guys?" "Well as the leader of this team I thought long and hard about this decision," said Ruby. "We put it to a vote," said Weiss, causing Ruby to stammer before continuing. "I decided that we should put it to a vote," Finished Ruby.

"We voted for Weiss and Yang," Said Blake. "I will happily represent team RWBY," said Weiss. "Yeah we're gonna kick some boot," said Yang, bashing her fists together. Emerald laughed for a moment before speaking. "Well if Mercury and I see you down the line don't expect us to go easy on you," said Emerald, happily. "Wouldn't have it any other way," said Yang. "Alright well we're gonna go catch some more fights," said Emerald. "Have fun!" Yelled Ruby as she waved good bye to Emerald. Everyone then turned around and followed Yang to the food stall she had mentioned earlier.

"So how are the new friends?" Asked Mercury, making air quotes with his fingers when he said 'friends.' "I hate them," stated Emerald. "Orders are orders," said Mercury, almost mockingly. "I just-how can they be so happy all the time," seethed Emerald. "Did you at least get what we wanted?" Asked Mercury.

"It's the heiress and the bimbo," said Emerald, "And of course bear brains and Wayne." "Well at least now we know who we're working with," said Mercury, "no nickname for Wayne." "Well the bear that wants to be a wolf is kind of long," said Emerald. "Why not call him the confused wolf or half-breed, or something along those lines?" Asked Mercury. "Doesn't fit all that well, and I've called too many people naïve something, so that's out," replied Emerald.

"You sound like you have to try a little harder to hate him," Said Mercury. "No, he's easy to hate," said Emerald, "Those stupid jokes he makes, him sniffing random objects, the way he's always trying to hide those scars of his and then gets embarrassed when people see them." "Oh so you want to see his scars?" Said Mercury. "I've seen most of his scars, he only hides them 'cause he doesn't like being asked about them," replied Emerald.

"So yes you want to see the scars or-," Questioned Mercury. "No I do not want to see the scars on his stomach!" Exclaimed Emerald. "Oh so he's told you where they are," Said Mercury, mockingly. "He tells anyone who asks, I just happened to be one of the few people that asked, and besides it looks like you took his bear-eared brother's advice," Emerald pointed out, indicating a pair of boots Mercury had been carrying.

"He knows his boots, these smell nice, and this particular brand has never rubbed up against my ankles in the past," Replied Mercury. "Great you two can go shoe shopping some time and try to form sentences about boots," Said Emerald.

"Who said I can't form complete sentences?" Asked Mercury. "Wayne did, and he's not far off," Said Emerald, with a slight smirk. "You really do have a hard time hating that guy don't you," said Mercury. "Well he does have the redeeming quality of helping me make fun of you behind your back," said Emerald. "You and him make jokes about me behind my back?" Asked Mercury. "Let's just get to the stadium," said Emerald, quickening her pace as she smirked to herself.

How many jobs does this guy have, thought Wayne as he, Aegis and team RWBY sat down at the food booth Yang had been leading them towards. If Wayne wasn't mistaken, this was the same old guy who had a dust shop, and drove his own delivery truck. Oh well, he thought, let's see how good his food is.

"I'll have a bowl of the usual please," said Yang. The old man quickly prepared and tossed a large bowl of noodles out in front of Yang. Ruby, seeing the delicious looking meal, asked for the same. Weiss, despite asking about a low salt meal, also received a large bowl of noodles. Blake simply nodded at the old shop keeper, who quickly made his way to the back, prepared and tossed a large bowl of fish and noodles in front of Blake, causing the cat faunus to drool.

"Can I have the same thing with just the fish," asked Aegis, who was quickly served a steaming bowl of fish. "I'll take the one with the beef," said Wayne, a bowl tossed in front of him a second later. As soon as everyone was served, Weiss pulled out her own Schnee Dust Company credit card to pay for the meal.

"Ah Weiss what's the occasion?" Asked Yang. "Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round," Replied Weiss. "Does that mean we get a meal too?" Asked Aegis. "I suppose I could pay for Wayne's," replied Weiss. "Weiss!," Exclaimed Ruby. "Oh alright, I should have more than enough, even if Aegis is a bottomless pit." No sooner had Weiss finished speaking than her credit card came flying back, embedded in the table top by the clerk who pointed at his cash register.

"What, how can my card be declined, I was barely into my monthly allowance," Said Weiss, dumbfounded while Blake tried slowly sliding her meal away, only for it to be swiftly taken up by the old store clerk. "NOOoo!" exclaimed Blake as she fell on the table top in defeat. "Well that's certainly, I-I'm sorry I'll be right back," said Aegis as he stood up and quickly walked off. "Where's he going?" Asked Yang.

"Probably where he thinks he's out of earshot," said Wayne. A moment later, the sound of someone laughing hysterically could be heard just above the noise of the fairgrounds. "Is he laughing, about this?" Asked Weiss. "Oh yeah, to Aegis this is about the funniest thing he could've ever imagined happening this year, next to you outright embarrassing yourself," Replied Wayne.

"Maybe I could help," said a friendly voice. Everyone turned to see Pyrrha, holding a few lien, with the rest of team JNPR in tow. "Pyrrha!" Yelled Ruby, throwing up her hands in excitement. "Ah you don't half too," said Yang. "But she could," said Blake, desperately. "Well I think you all earned it after that battle," said Pyrrha. "Mind if we join you?" Asked Jaune.

A few minutes later everyone breathed a satisfied sigh from full stomachs, save for Jaune who looked like he was about to puke up everything he had just eaten. Aegis had returned, still snickering every so often and earning him several glares from Weiss, which only made him snicker more. "Are you sure it was wise to have eaten before a fight?" Asked Ren. "Of Course," replied Pyrrha, "It will give us energy." Nora answered that statement with a loud belch.

"Nice one-," Aegis couldn't finish the sentence as he let out a loud belch of his own. "Really bro," said Wayne, "In front of all these lad-," Wayne failed to finish his own sentence as he suddenly belched, causing everyone to go silent for a few moments before everyone began laughing hysterically, save for Jaune who had his head down on the table, groaning. "Uuuugh, if I barf I'm blaming you," Said Jaune. "Oh, aim it at the enemy," said Nora with a devious expression on her face. "Nora that's disgusting," said Ren, "But if you do feel the urge." "Got it," Jaune said weakly, without lifting his head up.

"Well we should be off," said Pyrrha as she stood up. "You think you guys are ready?" Asked Ruby. "Of course," said Nora excitedly as she went in to how their team had a world class fighter, a ninja, Jaune, how their weapons were awesome, the fact that Goodwitch barely yelled at them anymore, Jaune. "Are you gonna take that," Ren asked Jaune. "She's not wrong," groaned Jaune, his face still down on the table.

"I'm kidding, he knows I'm kidding," said Nora, "Don't be so nervous, the worse that could happen is we lose, then it's just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in classes, no one will sit with us at the cafeteria and Ren and I have no parents so we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed team losiper." Nora's nervous laughter turned into light sobbing as she let her head fall to the table.

"So yeah we're feeling pretty good," said Ren. "So she can be negative," said Wayne while Aegis fell off his stool laughing. "Don't fret," Said Pyrrha as she put a reassuring hand on both Jaune and Nora's shoulders, "If anything we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines and not, well, murderers." "Yeah don't sweat it, we've all faced way worse before," said Yang.

"Let's see, Grimm invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath," said Blake. "Three sociopaths if you count the spy lady and the parasol girl," said Wayne. "And that's all while we were still in training," said Ruby, "Oh imagine what it'll be like when we graduate." "Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal," said Weiss dejectedly.

"Would team JNPR please report to the battle grounds immediately," said Professor Port over the loud speaker. "Yes, like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago," said Oobleck, also over the loud speaker. "Well looks like this is it," said Pyrrha. "Go get 'em," said Ruby as team JNPR headed off.

Vytal Festival Stadium: A few Minutes Later

"Seriously I'm fine," said Aegis as they made their way into the stadium seating area. "You were laughing for a solid five minutes after I told team RWBY to go ahead, and you're still snickering when you think I'm not looking," Said Wayne. "Oh come on," said Aegis, "On some level you have got to think it's hilarious that one of the riches girls in the world whose been kind of a pain in both our #$$ # at one point or another is suddenly broke and now probably has to shop at all the places us regular folks have to shop at."

"It was hilarious until you realize that she now has to find another way to pay for things like food, clothing, school supplies, materials for her weapon," Said Wayne. "Oh come on you're gonna make me feel the slightest bit bad for laughing if you keep that up," said Aegis.

"She's a friend Aegis, maybe not a good friend, but she's a friend," Said Wayne. "Yeah yeah," replied Aegis as he spotted team RWBY in the stands, "I'll try not to laugh when she's looking, that sound good." "I guess that's as good as we're gonna get," said Wayne as they made their way up to the stands and sat down behind team RWBY.

They watched as the match began, with the screens spinning at random to select two separate environments, this time it was a forest and a mountain which came rising up from beneath the metal plates. Another moment and the match between team JNPR and team BRNZ began. "So who's your money on," Asked Aegis as JNPR traded blows with BRNZ until they temporarily fell back due to sniper fire. "You know I'm rooting for JNPR," replied Wayne.

"Not that," said Aegis, "I mean who's your money on going down first?" "Probably the guy with the shock stick," said Wayne as he saw Ren go down and Nora jump into the fray, only to get electrocuted by the same guy with the shock stick. "Why do you think that?" Asked Aegis. Suddenly Nora, charged up thanks to her semblance of absorbing electrical energy, sent shock stick flying into a boulder.

"'Cause Nora can do that," replied Wayne. As the match carried on, JNPR managed to gain the advantage, forcing BRNZ back to the other side of the stadium that is until Jaune yelled something about flower power, causing the rest of team JNPR to stop in confusion and ask what he meant. "Flower power," said Aegis, snickering, "The heck kind of a name is that?"

"It's not much worse than polar bear," said Yang, turning back towards them. "Okay that was Aegis's idea, he won rock/paper/scissors so he named it," said Wayne, "And freezer burn was taken." "Why not 'blizzard' or 'artic chill' or something like that?" Asked Yang. "I felt like those were taken too," said Wayne as the crowd started booing loudly. JNPR had been having a team meeting and was just now remembering that they were in the middle of a fight, to which Jaune just held his sword to his head and told Nora to hit BRNZ with her hammer.

Nora happily agreed and sent all of team BRNZ flying out of the ring and giving team JNPR the win. Well that's all of us from Beacon going on to the doubles round, thought Wayne as he clapped for team JNPR, not looking forward to fighting Pyrrha again though. The next teams to fight were Sun and Neptune's all male team, SSSN, against the all-female team NDGO. "How bad do you think Neptune's gonna get beat down for trying to flirt with the opposing team?" Asked Aegis.

"Well he'll probably tick NDGO off within the first few seconds, so probably pretty bad." Replied Wayne. "That's not what I meant," said Aegis as they saw Neptune in the ring, doing one of his usual flirting moves, causing Weiss to stand up and yell. "RIP HIS STUPID FACE INGO!" Yelled Weiss. "Oh you were talking about Weiss whooping his ##," said Wayne as rubbed his ear in response to Weiss's yelling, "I'm gonna start at she'll rip him a new one and go from there, that is if he can survive this match."

In another few moments, the banners in the ring spun, selecting a desert environment on one side and an ocean on the other, which caused Neptune to become quite nervous all of a sudden. "Oh no," said Blake as she brought a hand to her head. "What's wrong with Neptune," asked Ruby as they watched Neptune start to panic at the sight of an ocean environment behind his team.

"Neptune's afraid of the water," said Blake. "I'm not sure why," said Wayne, "But that seems incredibly ironic for some reason." The match was a mess right from the start for both teams as Neptune ran straight behind the enemy's line to get as far away from the water as possible while his other teammates engaged team NDGO. Sage was the first to be thrown out by a small tornado of sand generated by the NDGO member with a staff. Fortunately Sun managed to take out a member of the enemy team with some cover fire from Neptune and some good staff work of his own.

Scarlett managed to hold his own for a bit, until Sun threw a couple of coconuts from a palm tree at the staff wielder, who set them on fire and sent them flying into Scarlett, one hitting him in the face and the other in his sensitive groin area, causing him to groan in a high pitched voice as his aura ran out.

"Oh that hurt just watching it," said Aegis. "Let's remember to bring him some ice or something after the match," said Wayne, cringing at the thought of how much pain Scarlett was probably in. Things were looking bad for a moment with Sun running around yelling at Neptune for help while Neptune refused to get near the water. Finally, though, Sun managed to get out of the water enough for Neptune to stick his electrified trident in the water, shocking the remaining three members of team NDGO.

"And with that team SSSN moves onto the doubles round!" Announced professor Port over the loud speaker. "Oh that was so close," said Ruby, sighing in relief. "Looks like the dorks made it to the next round," said Yang as Neptune and Sun showboated for the audience. "Emphasis on dork," said Blake, blushing when Sun pointed to her.

"All of a sudden your showboating doesn't seem so bad," said Wayne as he watched his two friends showing off in the ring. "At least we can dance," said Aegis. "Yeah I remember," Said Wayne, "It's still all over our friend's social networks." "That concludes the matches for today," said Doctor Oobleck over the loud speakers, "Please leave the arena in a CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!" Everyone cringed at the sound of Oobleck's voice.

"Come on, let's go congratulate them," said Yang as they all got up to leave. As they were getting up, a strange grey ship caught Wayne's eye. It had four wings in an X-shape that curved back and a cylindrical body with a black windowed cockpit. At the end of each wing was a long trailing blue ribbon-like structure which flowed behind the ship as it made its way through the air.

"Isn't that an Atlesian ship?" Asked Wayne, drawing his younger brother's attention to the sky. "Not just any Atlesian ship," replied Aegis, "That's one of the personal ships used by the Schnee family." "How do you know that," asked Wayne. "She came," Weiss said suddenly as she was also looking up at the ship before hurrying off. "Well I couldn't graffiti it if I didn't know who it belonged to," said Aegis as he started quickly walking away. "Wait graffiti," said Wayne as he tore his gaze from the sky and hurried after his brother, "Aegis get back here!"

 **And Wayne must once again stop his brother from doing something stupid, go figure right. Once again thank you to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers, and be sure to stop in next time as Wayne and Aegis meet some members of team RWBY's family, and Wayne tries to keep Aegis from defacing a very expensive ship. 'Til next time.**


	28. Family Visits

**Family Visits**

Beacon Air Platforms

"DON'T YOU DARE YOU FUR-BRAINED MORON!" yelled Wayne as he ran after his brother. Aegis had gotten a head start by getting on a shuttle before it took off, forcing Wayne to quickly board another one to get back to Beacon. By the time He landed, Aegis had gotten off of his shuttle and was heading for where the Atlesian ship was landing.

"At least wait until security's away from the ship," said Wayne as he closed the gap with his brother. "Then it wouldn't be as memorable," Aegis yelled back as he pulled out a can of graffiti paint in mid-run. They were coming around the right side of the ship as it landed with its backside facing the landing pad. A small force of Atlesian androids began marching out of the ship, but Wayne and Aegis were on the side near the front of the ship and out of sight of the androids.

Aegis leaped up on the ship, shaking the spray can as he went, looking for a good spot to paint his graffiti masterpiece. But as he was about to make a mark on the ship, Wayne tackled him and sent them both crashing into the side of the ship. Aegis tried to get back up but Wayne pinned down the arm holding the spray can with both hands. Aegis reached over and switched the can to his other hand, which Wayne then also attempted to pin down, causing large random blasts of paint to spray out from the can.

This is dignified, thought Wayne as he continued struggling to get the can out of his brother's hand as paint sprayed everywhere. Finally, Wayne managed to shove his brother away from the ship as they both went toppling down, though for some reason Aegis looked like he was on the verge of laughing. Wayne turned around, wondering what his brother had been looking at.

"You know Wayne, I was just gonna paint 'Aegis was here white # # $' but I think I like this better," said Aegis. Oh come on, thought Wayne as he looked at the mess of spray paint on the hull. "Now Winter can fly around with a giant black # # painted on the side of her ship," said Aegis.

"We are so dead," said Wayne as he began moving away from the ship, hoping no one saw what just happened. But everyone's attention seemed to be drawn to the landing platform, or rather the person on the landing platform. At the entrance to the ship stood Weiss and Ruby, with Weiss holding her head where a large bump was. In front of the two teammates stood a woman dressed in a white business/military suit with white hair tied in a bun with some of her hair hanging over her right eye, she looked similar to Weiss in a way.

That's Weiss's older sister Winter, thought Wayne. After what appeared to be a quick scolding from the older sister, Weiss and Winter began heading down the path towards Beacon with the androids following close behind, leaving little Ruby behind. "I guess that's Weiss's older, whiter-haired, and just as # $ y sister," said Aegis, "Should've figured bad attitude ran in the family."

"Now Aegis remember what Mom told us, you have to give people a chance," said Wayne, "Though I do wish she would wear a less strong perfume, I can smell it from here, and is that alcohol?" Aegis sniffed the air as well and wrinkled his nose as a look of realization crossed his face.

"Uh Wayne, that alcohol smell ain't coming from big sister Schnee," Said Aegis. Wayne sniffed the air again, catching a familiar scent with the alcohol, a scent he hadn't smelled since his time at, Signal Academy. "Oh no," said Wayne, "If that's who I think it is, then it's probably time to go." Just as the brothers began moving away from the landing area, the sound of metal tearing and circuits snapping ripped through the air from the center of the courtyard, followed shortly after by the sound of a metal head rolling away.

Looking over at the source of the sound, Wayne found that his fears were confirmed. Standing several feet away from Winter, Weiss and her other body guards was a man with a white collared shirt, black pants and a tattered red cape. The man had messy black and gray hair with a large sword hanging on the back of his waist, the weapon which had sent both Wayne and Aegis flying several times at Signal.

"That's drunk teacher Crow," said Aegis. "Yeah I see that," said Wayne as he wrinkled his nose again, "He smells just as bad as ever." "You think we should go say hi?" Asked Aegis. "I know you really want to show him some of your new moves Aegis," said Wayne, "But I think he's kind of busy." As Wayne said this, the conversation between Crow and Winter had gotten a bit heated, until Crow mocked how Atlas was gonna protect everyone.

That comment made Winter draw her saber and threaten to remove Crow's tongue if he wouldn't hold it, to which he simply replied, "Come take it." Winter leaped forward at incredible speed as the fight between the huntress and the huntsman began. "There he goes again," said Aegis. "He always did have a habit of getting into fights, though that's probably why he was your private tutor," said Wayne as they watched the two fighters clash around the courtyard, moving from one area to another in an instant.

"That's my UNCLE!" Ruby suddenly yelled. "Uncle?" Wayne and Aegis said at the same time, "Oh # $," said Aegis. "You got to be kidding me," Wayne added as the fight moved across the courtyard with Crow firing his weapon, Winter revealing the second sword hidden in her saber, and Ruby and Weiss cheering loudly for their respective family members. As the battle became more intense, Winter charged up one of her glyphs and Crow was about to convert his sword into a scythe until he suddenly noticed something and retracted his weapons blade and placed it back onto his back.

"Ah, let down," said Aegis. Winter wasn't ready to stop fighting yet, though, and charged with a straight stab at Qrow. "SCHNEE!" A voice suddenly called out, causing Winter to stop just inches from Qrow's throat as she turned to the source of the voice, General Ironwood and, if Wayne wasn't mistaken, Penny was right behind him. "Well so much for a drawn out fight," said Aegis as Ozpin and Glynda also entered the courtyard, causing the crowd to break up and head back to the stadium where, according to Ozpin, a sanctioned fight was happening, with popcorn.

"Well either way why don't we get going before he notices us," said Wayne as he watched Ruby excitedly leap onto Qrow's arm. "Oh come on," Aegis said, "Crow's a great teacher and a good tutor." "To you, he and I only got along okay," Said Wayne, "Besides it looks like he's got to talk to Ozpin anyway." As Wayne said this, Qrow was dropping Ruby off of his arm.

"Catch ya later kid," Crow said with a wink to Ruby as he began to walk away, "Oh and don't think I didn't see you bear brothers over there." "Hey," Wayne laughed weakly. "Hey teach," said Aegis with a wave, "How's Signal." "Our training equipment is lasting longer," said Crow as he walked away, "But we'll discuss that and the masterful artwork on the side of Ice queen's ship later." Can't wait, thought Wayne.

"Suddenly your recklessness makes sense," said Weiss to Ruby as they watched Qrow and the others walk away. "You're just mad because he whooped butt," replied Ruby. "That was a draw at least," retorted Weiss. "I just hate that they stopped it at the best part," said Aegis as he and Wayne joined Ruby and Weiss in the center of the courtyard, "I ain't seen Qrow use his scythe in ages."

"I believe the last time we saw it, he was using it on us," said Wayne. "You guys know my uncle?" asked Ruby. "Aegis knows him better than me," said Wayne. "I was one of his few personally tutored students," said Aegis. "Kind of an ironic choice, considering you were supposed to be learning self-control," said Wayne.

"Clearly you didn't pay that much attention," said Weiss. "Hey I learned a bit of self-control," said Aegis, "By this time in our first semester in Signal we'd already torn up multiple pieces of equipment and two training rooms." "Well I can see why you'd need a tutor, but why was Wayne being tutored?" Asked Weiss. "And did you also get tutored by my Uncle?" Asked Ruby.

"No, I got my personal training from Jakku Virum, Signal's professor on semblances and auras," said Wayne, "He was helping me control my semblance and also gave me some training in the use of my Crescent Fangs." "So you guys had personal tutors because you broke a lot of stuff?" Asked Ruby. "Basically," said Aegis, "Wayne couldn't control his semblance so well at first and I just didn't like holding back on the training equipment." "No wonder you both had to go to two academies before graduating," said Weiss.

"We're works in progress," said Wayne, "Same as any other student here." "We just required a slightly different teaching method," said Aegis as he turned around and headed towards Beacon. "Now can we go, it's getting late and I ate an hour ago, it's time for more food." "Fine but one last question," said Weiss, "What did that Crow guy mean by 'artwork'?" "See for yourself," said Aegis pointing over towards Winter's ship.

"You do that I'm gonna head on," said Wayne. "There somewhere you need to be Wayne?" Asked Ruby, "We can wait just a moment for Weiss can't we?" "No, I Just need a head start is all," replied Wayne. "What do you need a head start for?" Asked Ruby. "WAYNE AND AEGIS URSARIO!" Yelled Weiss. "See you guys back at the dorms," said Aegis as he and Wayne turned tail and ran.

Transfer Student Dorms: Later That Evening

This is just great, thought Emerald as Mercury finished telling them about Qrow arriving at the school. Emerald was even more surprised when Cinder declared that they would do nothing about Qrow for now and just stay the course, saying that no one knew who they were, so why worry.

"The last of the heavy lifting is being taken care of by our clever little friend," said Cinder as she opened her scroll, "Speaking of which, it seems we have a new access point." "Anywhere good," asked Emerald. "You could say that," replied Cinder with a slight smirk, "Go to your rooms, I'll prepare everything for tomorrow."

"Yes mam," said Emerald. "Got it," Mercury replied. As she got up off the bed she'd been sitting on to leave Cinder suddenly spoke again. "A word before you go Emerald," said Cinder, "In private." "Uh oh, someone's in trouble?" teased Mercury. "We're discussing a personal matter, now go to your room Mercury," Cinder stated sternly. Mercury just rolled his eyes, turned around and waved behind him as he left the room.

"I know he was just joking," said Emerald, "But have I done something wrong?" Asked Emerald. "Not at all," said Cinder, "I just wanted to make sure that the ones I assigned you to befriend don't suspect anything." "Are you kidding, they're completely clueless, I don't think some of them would even suspect us unless we outright told them what we were doing," Replied Emerald.

"And that includes Wayne Ursario?" Asked Cinder. "He may have suspected us at first," said Emerald, "But just like any typical guy who sees a pretty girl acting playful, any bad assumptions he might've had are probably gone." "So you can say for sure that he doesn't suspect you," Asked Cinder, "And he probably doesn't suspect the rest of us."

"He shouldn't no, though I've asked Neo to keep her distance from him and his brother on the off chance one of them recognizes her scent," Replied Emerald. "And you're of course, keeping appropriate emotional distance from him?" Asked Cinder. "Yes, of course, why do you ask?" Questioned Emerald, tilting her head at the odd question.

"It's just some interesting details I've heard," said Cinder, "That some of your interactions with the Ursario boy are more than just a good act." "What, who said that" Asked Emerald, suddenly feeling slightly nervous for some reason, "I'm just pretending to be friendly like you ordered to throw him off, this is probably just some of Mercury's nonsense you're hearing." "Ordinarily if it just came from Mercury I would dismiss it as nonsense," said Cinder, "But these more recent details are some of Neo's observations since she arrived here, and she tends to be far more observant than Mercury."

"What does she say I'm doing?" Asked Emerald. "Openly flirting, suggestive looks, and if I'm not mistaken when I was told this, you've told him a little bit about your past," Said Cinder. "Just the unimportant details," Said Emerald, defensively, "I still lied about how I met you and Mercury, and I haven't once slipped up on the fact that we're not actually from Haven."

"And the flirting?" Asked Cinder. "I'm just messing with him," said Emerald, "That bimbo with the blonde hair and the beret girl are bigger flirts than I am, at least that's what Wayne says." "So you should be able to kill him with no problem should the need arise?" Asked Cinder. Emerald hesitated for a moment before answering. "I can, it would be difficult unless I caught him off guard, but yes, if you gave the order I'd kill Wayne Ursario," Replied Emerald, slowly.

"Good answer," said Cinder, "That will be all for now, go to your room and I'll prepare everything for tomorrow." Emerald nodded and quickly left the room without another word, losing herself in her thoughts as she went down the hall to her room. I can do it, she thought to herself, he's just another obstacle, he's not my friend, no matter how many times he's smiled at me, no matter how many times he's been nice to me, no matter how many times he's wanted to help me, and no matter how many times he's treated me like a friend he is still just an obstacle and all obstacles in Cinder's way have to be removed even if.

Emerald stopped outside of her room and looked at her hands, which had been covered in blood many times before. Even if I have to be the one to do it. With that, Emerald entered her room and tried to get some sleep as she kept telling herself that she could do it. But no matter how many times she thought about it, she just couldn't picture herself killing Wayne.

Beacon Cliffs: The Next Day

The sun shone over the Beacon cliffs as the peacefulness of the morning was shattered by the sound of explosions. On the cliff stood Wayne, Aegis, and their Mother, a bear Faunus with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and wearing light armor, and their Father, a dark haired man with brown eyes, a traveler's coat with chainmail armor underneath, who called the two brothers out to the cliffs for an early morning training session.

"Again," said their father. Wayne groaned a bit at the command as he gathered energy in his hand for a few moments before releasing the new energy attack he'd been working on. As soon as it was charged up, Wayne aimed it at the target in front of him, his brother Aegis, who spun the earth dust in his weapon and braced for Wayne's attack. With one last effort, Wayne released the energy of his semblance in its new form and sent it flying towards Aegis, who used a new trick of his own to create a barrier of stone.

Wayne's attack impacted against the stone wall, utterly destroying it as it sent bits of stone flying in all directions. Despite the obvious ferocity, Aegis still remained standing, with his remaining aura only mildly singed from the attack. Both brothers were breathing heavily now from the effort they'd been putting in since early morning as Wayne clutched at his right arm. A large cut had appeared on Wayne's forearm, caused by the new and slightly unpredictable way he was using his semblance. Although it was already healing quickly thanks to his aura, it was still a bit painful.

"That's enough for now," said their mother as she came over to examine Wayne's arm. Aegis and their father soon joined them. "It's been awhile since you were last hurt by your own semblance," she said. "This new trick for my semblance we're working on is multidirectional," said Wayne, "Sometimes when I release the energy, some of it exits out of the backside of my hand or foot and hits me instead, guess it was a bit of a stronger energy release today."

"Remember what we taught you," said Wayne's father, "Always focus outwards, especially with a multidirectional attack, otherwise you might hit your opponent and yourself." "And Aegis," said their mother, "Remember change the size and thickness of your wall depending on what type of attack is coming at you, and should the need arise, fashion the wall so that it can be driven deeply and firmly into the ground, if your wall doesn't have a strong base, it will very likely topple over."

"No problem," said Aegis as he sheathed his weapon. "I'll work on it as best as I can," replied Wayne as he grabbed his coat, which he'd taken off for training, and put it back on. "We know you will," said their father, "Just remember to fight with your head and your heart." "So that you may fight with wisdom and passion," continued their mother.

"For it is wisdom that shows us the path," Wayne said. "And passion that pushes us to keep walking it," Finished Aegis. "You have learned," Said their Father with a smile. "Yeah, I remembered the whole thing this time," said Aegis. "Wish you'd remembered the whole thing at the last family dinner," said Wayne. "Hey they only pulled us aside for a few minutes," Aegis shot back.

"We had to read and recite the thing for half an hour because you couldn't remember the middle section," Said Wayne. "What, I had a lot on my mind that day," Said Aegis. "Yeah I'm sure you figuring out how to write a love letter qualifies as a lot on your mind," said Wayne. "Hey I was trying to make it sound charming," Said Aegis.

"I don't think, 'come see my bear cave,' is a very charming way to write a letter," Replied Wayne. The two brothers argued back and forth for a bit about what was and wasn't charming while their parents laughed. Eventually, though, it was time to go. "Alright that's enough," said their mother as she grabbed them both by their collars and lifted them up off the ground.

"Hey now," "Easy," said Wayne and Aegis. "You two can save arguing for after today's match, for now we need to get you both to the stadium." Their mother didn't put them down but instead began walking back towards Beacon while still holding both Wayne and Aegis up off the ground by their shirt collars.

"You, uh gonna put us down anytime soon," asked Wayne. "Once you two are good and embarrassed," She replied. "MOOOOooooom!" The two brothers groaned as they were carried back from the Beacon cliffs, all the way to Beacon academy. Needless to say, they had plenty of people staring at the bear Faunus lady holding up Wayne and Aegis Ursario. "What's going on over there guys," called Sun when he saw the two brothers being carried around. "Our Mom," the two brothers stated flatly.

Vytal Festival Staduim: A Few Awkward Minutes Later

"Well that was more embarrassment than I expected for the morning," said Aegis as he and Wayne made their way around the stadium, having parted ways with their mother and father when they arrived so Wayne and Aegis could find their friends. "Well it could've been worse," said Wayne, "Remember when they videoed us picking out dance moves for Grimm luring and then showed it to the family."

"Oh don't remind me," groaned Aegis, "We had to do the dance in front of the whole family and a few friends who didn't know how to keep their mouths shut, before you know it, the whole town knows about it." "I will admit, 'the dancing bear brothers,' does not have a very good ring to it," Said Wayne.

"Hey Wayne, Aegis!" A familiar voice called to them from a distance. Wayne and Aegis turned to see team CFVY coming their way. "There you two are," said Coco, "We've been looking for you guys all morning." "We had an early morning training session at the Beacon Cliffs," said Wayne. "Our parent's idea, not ours," Said Aegis.

"Working on some new moves are we?" Said Coco, raising an eyebrow. "You could say that," said Wayne as he rolled up his sleeve on his right arm, "It's been a bit tricky." Fox looked closely at the new crescent shaped cut on Wayne's arm before smiling and shaking his head as he pointed to a new scar on his arm.

"Hey it's not a contest," said Wayne as he rolled his sleeve back up, "This just gives you an idea of how dangerous my new semblance form is." "I hope you have full control of it," said Yatsuhashi, "It would be a shame if you were felled by your own technique." "And now you sound like Wayne's tutor," said Aegis, "Don't worry he's got it, we ain't going down before we get to fight you." "Looking forward to it," said Coco before she checked her scroll, "Speaking of which we need to get going, care to keep Velvet and Fox company while me and Yatsu whoop some ##?"

"Only if they got front row seats," Said Aegis. "Well we have ring side if that's okay," said Velvet. "Of course," said Aegis as he wrapped one arm around Fox and another around Velvet, "So long as you don't mind head locks every so often." Fox just shrugged as Velvet halfheartedly struggled against Aegis's grip. Everyone began walking back towards the stadium entrance when Wayne caught the scent, and the sight of a familiar green-haired girl.

"Uh you guys go ahead," said Wayne, "I just remembered there was someone I needed to talk to." "Wait you can't leave, who's gonna make Aegis let go!" Exclaimed Velvet as Wayne moved away from the group and towards a much smaller group of two people. Wayne was just coming up behind her when she suddenly stopped, forcing Wayne to stop as he nearly ran into her.

"Trying to sneak up on me again Wayne," said Emerald as she turned around with an amused look on her face. "Well not exactly trying," Replied Wayne, "It'd be a lot funnier if I was trying to sneak up on you." "Yeah, I'd spot you, again, and then you'd either fall over and look stupid or fail miserably in trying to act like you weren't," Said Emerald.

"Oh give me a little credit, my acting's not that bad," Said Wayne, rubbing the back of his head. "Your acting would be better if you could come up with a believable excuse for being right behind me," Replied Emerald. "Oh you love the lame excuses," said Wayne, "You roll your eyes like it annoys you but you always smile just a teensy bit afterward." "I'm smiling at the thought of me beating the living daylights out of you," said Emerald.

"Well if the randomization process works out you might get your chance," said Wayne as he crossed his arms, "But if we do get pitted against each other, just know I am not responsible for any injuries Mercury gets while fighting Aegis." "Oh so you just want me all to yourself," said Emerald. "What me, wanting to spend time trading blows with a beautiful girl, never," Wayne said sarcastically while waving his hands dismissively.

"Hey could you hurry it up," said Mercury impatiently, "You can flirt with your boyfriend later, right now we've got some unfortunate souls to crush." "He is not, ugh," Emerald exclaimed as she turned in Mercury's direction, "We are not having this discussion right now." Turning back to Wayne, Emerald let out a frustrated sigh.

"Bit more of an annoyance than usual today," Wayne whispered as he leaned in a bit so that only Emerald could hear him. "He's just been awful today," replied Emerald quietly, "But he is right, we need to get going." "Well don't worry, there's plenty of stuff to hit where we're going," said Wayne, "So we can both work out our anger issues, speaking of which I need to get back to Aegis and the others, but before I go." Wayne reached into his pocket and pulled out a stone pendant with the symbol of a fox on it and a gray chain attached to it.

"A little good luck charm," said Wayne, tossing it to Emerald, "Not that you need it." As Wayne began to walk away, Emerald called out to him one more time, "If you fight someone else and lose, I'm gonna kick your ##!" "And if you lose to someone else I'll make you listen to one of Nora's dream rants," said Wayne, "And not one of the exciting ones." "I'll keep that in mind," Replied Emerald as she waved and turned away back towards the other entrance to the stadium. Well if I wasn't motivated before, thought Wayne, I'm definitely motivated now.

"There you are," said Aegis, who had since released Velvet and Fox as Wayne took his seat. "You made it just in time," said Velvet, "The match is about to start." Wayne looked out at the stadium before he spoke. "Who're the unfortunate victims of, oh boy," Wayne couldn't finish his sentence as he realized Emerald and Mercury were facing Yatsuhashi and Coco.

"Well that's just great now I have to root generically," said Wayne. "I know," said Ruby, "I really want Coco and Yatsu to win, but Emerald's our friend too." "Well try to stay positive," said Aegis, "Maybe they'll just beat the living daylights out of each other until it's a draw." "I highly doubt that's going to happen," Said Blake who was sitting on the other side of Ruby.

"Yeah Coco and Yatsu are packing some serious fire power, this match might be a bit one-sided," Said Yang. "Normally I'd agree with you Yang," said Wayne, "But I've sparred with Emerald several times, even if Coco and Yatsu have a lot of fire power, they're gonna have to work for it, and that's just based on what I know about Emerald, that Mercury guy probably has some tricks too."

"Good luck you two!" yelled Velvet out to the arena as the platforms shifted to reveal not just two, but four different environments, this time being city ruins, grasslands, a geyser field, and a forest. "Three, two, one, begin!" Boomed Professor Port over the loudspeaker.

As the match began, Emerald and Mercury merely backed into the grassland area until they were completely concealed by the grass. "Well that's not a very exciting start," said Weiss. "Wait for it," said Aegis as Coco transformed her bag into its Gatling gun form and opened fire. The stadium was suddenly filled with a mass amount of noise as Coco sprayed the whole grassland area with bullets, some even left the arena and impacted on the stadium shields in front of the audience.

Weiss and Ruby leaped back a little as some of the bullets came sweeping into their section of the stadium, bouncing off the shield just a few feet in front of them. "That exciting enough for ya," asked Wayne as the two girls regained their composure. "That was awesome," cheered Ruby, while Weiss simply crossed her arms with a frown. Wayne focused back on the match and noticed that the whole grassland area had been mowed down, but there was no sign of Emerald or Mercury anywhere, that is until Wayne looked up.

"Look out," yelled Blake, noticing right before Wayne did. Mercury came crashing down from the sky in a flurry of kicks, flips, and spins which kept him one step ahead of Yatsu's sword and Coco's hail of bullets. He's fighting even harder than in the first round, thought Wayne, and he's showing a bit more skill too. As Wayne continued to watch, he started looking around for Emerald, noticing she hadn't made an appearance until he caught a short flash of white and dark green moving into the trees.

He barely had time to look closer before the arena was suddenly lit up with several white projectiles swirling around like a cyclone. The projectiles were being controlled by Mercury who was shooting more and more out of the bottom of his boots while spinning around on his hands until he had a storm of them circling above him. With another swift movement, Mercury sent all of the projectiles flying at Coco and Yatsu, temporarily stunning them and allowing Mercury a chance to get up close and separate the duo.

That's when Wayne saw a familiar looking sickle blade on a chain fly out of the forested area. The weapon seemed to stretch a couple hundred feet back into the forest as it wrapped around Coco's waist and yanked her through the air into the forest. Yatsu tried to help her, but was quickly intercepted by Mercury. Yatsu managed to throw his opponent into the geyser field section of the arena, but Mercury blocked his next sword slash with his feet, which split several sections of the arena.

Mercury quickly recovered and pressed his attack against Yatsu, knocking him into a geyser field which blinded the large swordsman and allowed Mercury the opening he needed to deliver the final blow, brining Yatsu down.

"Ah that was a geyser to the guy's face," said Aegis as he continued watching. In another minute, Coco came flying out of the forest and landed next to Yatsu's prone form, her aura depleted and her signature sunglasses no longer on her face. A smiling Emerald came walking out of the forest, twirling her sickle weapon on its chain as she and Mercury stood over their defeated foes. "Coco," said Velvet quietly as Fox put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You sure know how to pick 'em," whispered Aegis. "Not now Aegis," said Wayne as he got up to go check on Coco. Those two really can be ruthless when they want to be, thought Wayne.

 **Here we are at the end of another chapter, today's lesson: every family has its own little quirks. As always I'd like to thank my reviewers, followers, and viewers for this latest milestone of 3,000 views. And don't miss the next chapter, because this one features a couple new characters, one of whom is from Wayne's past. 'Til next time.**


	29. Fighting Past and Present

**Fighting Past and Present**

Outside the Stadium

"Unbelievable," said Coco as she held her hand to the bridge of her nose, "And I actually said I liked her too." "Yeah I probably should've warned ya," said Wayne, "Emerald's mischievous, and good at finding blind spots." "You could've said something," said Coco, "Considering the amount of times you've sparred with her."

"Wayne hoped you'd get to meet her before the tournament," said Aegis as he handed Coco a spare pair of sunglasses. "It might've been more pleasant," said Yatsu as Velvet finished examining his face for any burns. "Well it is a randomization process," said Wayne, "You could've just as easily wound up fighting me and Aegis." "You still could've warned us ahead of time, like say, right before we entered the arena," Said Coco. "He would've, except he was talking to Emerald," said Aegis. Wayne shot Aegis a look.

"Of course you were," said Coco as she put on her spare sunglasses, "I'll bet you warned her about a few people, unlike you did with us." "I was just telling her good luck was all," said Wayne. "It doesn't look like they needed it," said Velvet.

"Well on the upside we don't have to kick each other's ##$# now," said Aegis, trying to lighten the mood. "Too bad," said Coco, "I was actually looking forward to that." "Maybe next sparring match," said Wayne as he looked over to see team RWBY heading over, "In the meantime maybe we can find something a little less painful to do."

"The randomization process has finished," said Professor Port's voice over the loud speakers, "And our next match is Wayne and Aegis Ursario vs Drake Beller and Exo." "So much for painless," said Aegis. "Try not to lose," said Coco, "Or I might kick your ## sooner than you think."

"I guess that's as close to good luck as we're gonna get from her," said Wayne as he and Aegis turned to leave. "Good luck you two," said Velvet, waving at them as they walked away. Wayne and Aegis both raised their arms up, waving back without turning around as they made their way to the arena entrance.

"So, you still gonna congratulate her," asked Aegis as they walked out onto the arena. "I mean she did win," said Wayne, having to raise his voice a little over the cheering crowd, "It would just be a little weird to say 'hey, congrats on beating the # out of two of my friends, it was quite a show.'" "What you ain't gonna give her a 'I knew you could do it' speech," said Aegis, "I mean you already gave her a good luck charm."

"What," exclaimed Wayne as he suddenly started talking more quickly, "Who told you I gave her anything?" "No one," replied Aegis, "I just saw you carving the symbol on the necklace out in the courtyard yesterday, not a bad fox carving by the way." "Just, just don't tell Mom and Dad okay," said Wayne, donning his helmet as he and Aegis stopped near the center of the arena and faced their opponents.

Their first opponent, Drake Beller, was a faunus about Wayne's height with black cat ears wearing a white combat coat with black pants and combat boots, a belt containing several dust cylinders, a pair of black gloves with what appeared to be small steel claws at the end, and, oddly enough, a Grimm mask similar to the one's he, Blake, and Sun had worn on the night they infiltrated the White Fang meeting.

Beller's weapon, which hung on his left hip, was a straight blade with a curve on one side and what appeared to be a few mechanical parts built into the blade. Their other opponent, Exo, was also a faunus, closer to Aegis's size with a pair of gray wolf ears, dark hair, gray light armor and a black sword with silver rune symbols which hung from his back. Both looked formidable, and Wayne was certain Drake was glaring at him from behind his mask with his left hand clenched tightly around his weapon's handle, while Exo simply stood there with his arms crossed and an impassive look on his face.

"Hey love the sword," said Aegis as the holograms of the backgrounds began spinning, "It's got the whole 'sinister weapon' vibe to it." "It looks better covered in blood," responded Exo as he drew his sword from his back. "Aegis stay focused with these guys," said Wayne as he drew his own weapons, "They aren't like the arrogant pricks we took on in round one." "I know," responded Aegis as he drew his weapon, "Which is why this is gonna be extra exciting."

The backgrounds stopped spinning, signaling the four corners of the stadium to slide back and reveal the four environments they'd be fighting in: an abandoned cityscape, a desert, a mountain with lightning at the top, and an area full of tall, jagged rocks pointing upwards. "All contestants ready," boomed Port over the loud speaker as the countdown began.

"At long last," said Drake suddenly as he removed his weapon from his hip, "I can cut you down Wayne Ursario." Wayne tilted his head at that, but he didn't have time to wonder about it as the counter reached zero. "BEGIN!" boomed Port over the loud speaker.

Exo attacked first, throwing his sword at Aegis who quickly knocked it up into the air by forming his basic glass axe blades on his weapon. Drake charged immediately after, his sword aimed at Wayne's heart. Wayne held up his weapons to fire when suddenly he noticed a shadow over him and Aegis as Exo appeared above them, swinging his sword straight toward Wayne's face.

Wayne barely had time to move to the side as the blade was deflected by Aegis while Wayne switched his weapons to their sickle form and parried Drake's sword. Exo landed on Wayne's right and tried to attack Wayne but was blocked and pushed back by Aegis as Wayne squared off against Drake, blocking his first series of strikes before leaping back and joining his weapons together to make his blade staff.

Drake pushed the offensive as he slashed first at Wayne's head and then his feet. Wayne twirled his blade staff, deflecting the first blow, then swinging downward to intercept the next blow. Drake's attacks were ferocious, though, as he kept striking at one side then the other, left then right and up then down in rapid succession, forcing Wayne to stay on the defensive as he tried to find a weak spot in his opponent's attacks.

Wayne got his chance when his opponent used a feint high attack then stabbed at his chest. Wayne sidestepped with his weapon held out, causing the blade to go in between him and his weapon until he trapped Drake's right arm by holding his staff close to his body and pushing the left side of his weapon down on the back of Drake's neck while pulling up on the right side of his weapon, raising Drake's arm up while forcing the rest of him downward.

Wayne was only able to keep him in the hold for a moment as Exo's sword landed behind him, distracting him for a split second. A split second was all that was needed as Drake twisted around, flipped his sword to a reverse grip and reached for his weapon with his left hand and pulled the large blade off, revealing a second, smaller blade as he swung with his other blade, forcing Wayne to release his hold and back away as Exo suddenly appeared behind him, pulling his sword out of the ground and swinging an upward horizontal strike at Wayne.

Wayne managed to block the blow but was knocked off balance as Drake leapt up and brought both swords down in a horizontal strike. What the, thought Wayne as saw the blow coming, recognizing something familiar about the way his opponent struck. When both blades impacted against Wayne's weapon, the middle suddenly came apart, converting his weapons back into their sickle form. Drake took the momentary opening to kick Wayne in the stomach, causing him to stumble backwards as he felt some sting from the blow.

Wayne was saved from another attack by several glass shards suddenly flying into view, forcing both Drake and Exo to turn and either block or dodge the razor sharp shards. Aegis then came leaping in, wildly swinging a flaming ax blade, forcing their two opponents to take a few steps back to avoid the smoldering edges. The two pairs took a moment to regroup as they eyed each other again.

Wayne sniffed the air as he examined Drake's weapon, his eyes widening a little bit under his helmet as he realized he'd seen the unsheathed blade before. The blade of the weapon was attached to what appeared to be the pistol grip of a gun which Drake was using as the sword's handle while the blade in his other hand had a handle built into the frame.

"That weapon," said Wayne, "If I'm not mistaken it can also convert into a sniper rifle." "Quite right," replied Drake as he slid the smaller blade back into the larger blade then hit a switch which converted the blade into the form of a black and white sniper rifle, "It seems I won't have to explain as much as I thought." "He figure it out already?" asked Exo as he relaxed for a bit and rested his sword on his shoulder.

"What's he talking about?" asked Aegis as he spun an earth cylinder and formed a one-sided earth ax blade. "If I got this right, I met our masked friend here two years ago at the only Sanctum academy tournament I ever entered." "That's right," said Drake as he began backing up, "And now I'm here to settle the score." Suddenly as black mist appeared from behind Drake and quickly advanced toward Wayne and Aegis.

"Stay close and move back," said Wayne as he and Aegis retreated. But the mist was on them in moments, blocking out all the light around them and plunging the two brothers into a musty darkness so thick Wayne could hardly see his hand in front of his face. "Well this is just great," said Aegis as they held their weapons up defensively. "Just keep calm and listen," said Wayne, "It's like the shrouded forest back home, this mist blocks off sight but it doesn't completely muffle sound."

As if to prove Wayne's point, the sound of a blade embedding itself in the stadium suddenly rang out. Aegis shifted to face the direction of the sound as the blade was suddenly pulled out and swung. Aegis blocked the first blow as a sniper shot rang out, which Wayne was barely able to block in time as another shot rang out shortly after, this one grazing Aegis's shoulder as he was knocked over by another blade strike. Wayne shifted his right Crescent Fang into its SMG form and fired in the direction of Aegis's opponent. Wayne's ears were greeted with the sound of energy bullets colliding against metal as the attacker, Exo, Wayne guessed, retreated back into the mist.

Another shot rang out which Wayne grazed Wayne's upper torso as Aegis quickly rose back to his feet. "Keep moving back," said Wayne as he fired in the direction of the sniper shots, "The mist typically only covers a short distance." "Why not try a fighting retreat," whispered Aegis as he deflected another shot with his weapon. "Couldn't hurt," replied Wayne as switched his Crescent Fang back into sickle form just in time to block a swing from Exo's black blade before he once again retreated into the mist.

"Ready," said Aegis, spinning his stone dust cylinder. "Keep me covered," said Wayne as he blocked another sniper shot and shifted his weapons to their SMG forms and fired back in the direction of the sniper. Aegis took this time to quickly form a large shield about the size and width of his body and deflected another attack by Exo. Wayne took this moment to duck behind Aegis and began charging his semblance while Aegis held off any frontal attacks from either Drake or Exo.

Wayne fired behind them occasionally to insure that no one was behind them with his left weapon while he switched his right weapon to its sickle form. As the next sniper round impacted on Aegis's stone shield, Wayne tapped his shoulder. "Change up," said Aegis as he raised his shield up enough for Wayne to slide under his arm and unleash a wide horizontal wave of energy into the mist in front of them. The satisfying sound of a pair of shrieks met their ears as the combined assault on them halted completely.

"Ready to move forward," asked Aegis as he let some of the stone crumble off the shield to reduce its weight. "Let's take it to-," but Wayne never got to finish his sentence as the sound of something igniting caught their ears. The mist in front of them began to glow as it suddenly ignited into a wall of flame which quickly raced towards them. They didn't have time to think as they both turned and ran as fast as they could towards the other end of the mist.

The flames chased them relentlessly and were about to overtake them when they both jumped up, Aegis spinning his ice cylinder and forming an ice shield and Wayne blasting some of his semblance out of his fist into the flames, pushing him back while also creating a gap in the flames. The air pressure from the igniting flames did the rest as it pushed them both out of the flames and into the abandoned city scape. Both brothers landed on their backs, feeling somewhat singed but otherwise ok.

"That's new," groaned Wayne, still on the ground. "Ol' Drakey's gone and learned some new tricks," said Aegis. Suddenly their attention was drawn to the sound of metal embedding into stone as Exo's sword stuck into a section of the building above them, followed shortly by the appearance of Exo himself.

"If you liked the fire," said Exo as he grabbed his sword and sliced through a large section of abandoned building, "You're gonna love the falling debris." The cut section of building crumbled as it fell, raining large chunks of rock down on Wayne and Aegis, who both rolled in opposite directions to avoid some of the larger pieces of rubble. Exo leaped down with the rest of the debris, swinging his sword at Aegis and driving him further back. Wayne tried to get to Aegis, but more debris blocked his way.

Wayne's attention was also drawn by the sound of a blade leaving its sheath as Drake leaped in between some of the rubble, jabbing both blades at Wayne's heart. Wayne swatted both blades aside with his own weapons and swept his left foot into Drake's ankle, causing him to stumble. But Drake expertly rolled away and swung up with his left weapon to block Wayne's downward strike before taking a swat at Wayne's midsection. Wayne leaped back a couple feet and tossed his other sickle at Drake, who knocked it away. Wayne spun left and tugged on the wire he'd attached to his weapon and used his weapon's new found momentum to make a return strike at Drake, before also attaching a wire to his right weapon as he continued rotating and swinging his weapons.

Drake dodged and batted away both sickles as he quickly closed the gap, forcing Wayne to reel his weapons back in, spinning them a couple more times to keep Drake back before the wires reeled in completely. Drake kept up a vicious assault on Wayne as he struck high and low with both blades, and sometimes he struck in two different areas at once, forcing Wayne to keep on his toes as he blocked and deftly evaded each strike. I can't charge up a strong attack like this, thought Wayne as he continued to fend off Drake's merciless assault, guess I'll have to settle for something a bit less destructive.

Wayne charged what energy he could before he finally caught both of Drake's blades with his sickles and pushed back as he and Drake tried to overpower each other by strength. "You haven't lost your conviction have you?" Asked Drake as he forced his blades ever closer to Wayne's head, "Defeating you won't be any fun if you aren't fighting your hardest."

"Don't worry about me," said Wayne as he pointed his right finger at Drake's chest and released his semblance in the form of a small, straight blue beam. Drake yelped in surprise as he was sent rolling backwards. "I'm just getting started," said Wayne while he took the momentary opening to charge more energy to his weapons.

"Yes that's better," said Drake with a sinister grin as he rose back to his feet. Got to hit him now, thought Wayne as he unleashed a wave of energy from his right weapon. Drake leaped over the wave of energy as Wayne released a couple more blasts while shifting his other weapon to its SMG form and firing. Drake dodged, rolled and blocked his SMG fire as he leapt from rock cover to rock cover within the abandoned cityscape. Drake closed the distance between them, but this time Wayne was ready for him as he sent a blast wave at some of the rubble Drake was landing on, slicing through it and knocking Drake off balance and onto the ground.

Wayne decided to close the gap this time as he charged some energy into his fist and leaped towards Drake. But, as he was about to land the blow, Drake sent out a blast of mist, this time mixed with earth dust. Wayne was blinded by mist and bombarded in midair by flying rocks, causing his attack to go off target as he landed a few feet short of where Drake had been, creating a small crater in the ground as his attack impacted. Wayne quickly switched both weapons to SMG form and fired at the area Drake had been at.

But Drake had already moved as the mist dissipated, revealing an empty space where he had been. Now where are you, thought Wayne as he looked around, trying to sniff the air through the dissipating haze and straining his ears to hear above the noise of the crowd. Wayne soon got his answer as he saw the muzzle flash of a rifle. Moving on instinct, Wayne was barely able to leap out of the way in time as he felt the hot trail of an energy bullet graze his right side above his hip.

Wayne rolled behind cover as a couple more rounds impacted on the ground barely a foot from where he'd been earlier. Great, now we get to play hide and seek, thought Wayne as dared a look around the other side of the rubble he was hiding behind. He was rewarded with more stone in his helmet's visor as a round impacted just an inch from his head, forcing him to pull his head back. Ok, you're up high, he thought, let's see how well you can aim.

Wayne shifted his left weapon to its sickle form and slowly reached it out from behind the other side of the rubble. Another shot rang out as a sniper round impacted on his weapon, knocking it from his hand temporarily as he whipped his other weapon around the corner and fired with his SMG at full auto. As he fired he pulled his left weapon back to him with his wire and shifted to its SMG form, firing both weapons simultaneously now. His barrage didn't last long, though, as another round flew by Wayne's cheek, nearly grazing his helmet.

Wayne quickly ducked back behind cover as more rounds rang out, striking the ground near him. Okay, can't hit 'em with the SMGs, only throw his aim off a little, he thought, gonna need to be a bit more forceful. Wayne shifted both weapons to sickle form and began charging his semblance as he formed a plan in his head. Alright, he thought, assuming he hasn't moved this should force him out. Wayne turned around and made a fist as he punched the rubble in front of him and released a straight blast of energy which shot straight through the rubble and to the location he assumed Drake was hanging out.

The effect on the abandoned structure was better than Wayne had hoped as not only did part of the wall get blasted, but part of the floor caved in as well, forcing a figure to leap to another section of the building. Wayne unleashed another energy slash, forcing Drake to leap down into a prone position as he took aim and fired at Wayne. Wayne was ready this time, however, and deflected the sniper round with his Crescent Fang as he charged up energy in his feet and released one orb of glowing blue energy with a kick, blocked a sniper shot, then released another orb of blue energy as they sailed towards Drake, impacting against the building and blowing two large holes in it.

The remainder of the structure collapsed, forcing the sniper out of the building and back into the open. Wayne rushed over into the cloud of debris created by the crumbling structure, coming upon Drake just as he shifted his weapon back to its sword form. But he managed to reach Drake before he could draw his second sword and knocked the blade aside with his right weapon and swung at his opponent's head with his left weapon. Drake narrowly avoided by ducking his head to the right, but couldn't get out of the way in time for Wayne to kick him in the chest and send him stumbling even further into the rubble.

Wayne pressed his attack as his opponent managed to draw his second sword and block his first couple of strikes as Wayne slashed at his opponent's head and torso with his sickles while occasionally kicking at his opponent's legs with his feet whenever he saw an opening. Got him on the defensive now, thought Wayne as he increased the ferocity of his attacks, forcing Drake to move backwards. Eventually they locked weapons again, but this time Wayne used his opponent's force by letting his swords go by him and sidestepped to the left as he let Drake pass him on his left side.

Wayne shoved both of Drake's weapons down by their feet, blades nearly touching the ground before he hit Drake in the face with his left elbow, causing him to stumble back. Wayne pressed his attack again, only for Drake to sidestep left and unleash more of his mist, but this time it was a much smaller white mist, which covered the whole left half and some patches of the right half of Wayne's body as it settled and turned to ice. Now that's cold, thought Wayne as he tried to back up, his movement slowed greatly due to the ice which had settled on his body. Now it was Drake's turn to press the attack once again.

Wayne turned and tried to fight him off with his right arm, which hadn't been frozen, while trying to swing occasionally with his left, which was stiff and awkward. Drake blocked his right weapon while easily avoiding his left weapon before stopping his right weapon with one of his swords before bringing the second sword down on Wayne's wrist. Wayne suppressed a yelp as his wrist stung from the blow. Drake whirled around to the other side and blocked and hit Wayne's left wrist in a similar fashion. He was aiming for my wrist wires, Wayne realized as he felt the simple machinery give out under his sleeves.

"You've gotten a few new tricks Wayne," said Drake, "But I've studied how you fight, nothing you do can surprise me." Drake attacked again, this time with a flurry of blows aimed at Wayne's head. By this point Wayne had managed to break some of the ice off of his left leg and arm and began retreating and sidestepping while blocking as many of Drake's blows as he could.

"It's like I told you before," said Drake while still attacking, "I'm a Faunus, I'm naturally better at fighting and surviving." They locked weapons. "You still spouting that B.S.," said Wayne as he pushed back against Drake. "I'll admit losing to you the first time was a shock," said Drake, "But I suppose even a half breed, as appalling as such a thing is, is still better than a human!" Drake broke their grapple and swung his weapons at Wayne's head again.

"But this time I'll show you," said Drake as Wayne dodged the first couple of blows, "Just how much better a pure blood Faunus is." Drake slashed wildly a few more times until he managed to knock both of Wayne's weapons out of his way before swinging once, then twice at Wayne's head. Wayne managed to step back, but the first blade still impacted against the left side of his helmet, cracking the left visor and cutting through some of the helmet.

As the first blade left Wayne's helmet, the second blade came swinging in, cutting and shattering the two visors as Wayne fell backwards from the force of the blow, rolling as best as he could while the ice on his body crunched against the ground. Wayne rolled several feet, dropping one of his Crescent Fangs as he hit the ground, before hitting another piece of rubble, causing his head to throb even more. Got to charge up, he thought as he struggled to rise.

"This is the fate of all nonFaunus!" Yelled Drake as he landed next to Wayne and raised his blades up for a final strike. Wayne quickly raised his hand up and released the energy he'd charged up in a fist-sized blast which sent Drake flying back several feet until he finally landed on his back.

"You just don't get it," said Wayne rising to his feet, "Being human, Faunus, or half-breed doesn't mean a thing." Wayne grabbed his helmet and released the mouth guard before yanking the helmet off his head. "Sure some Faunus traits can come in handy," said Wayne, looking at his own hand while gathering more energy, "But they're only a part of who we are." Wayne clenched his fist, causing a small burst of his aura to flow out of his body and shatter the remaining ice on his body.

"It sounds like I'm not the only one spouting nonsense," said Drake as he rose to his feet. "You actually believe humans and Faunus are equals?" "We're all people ain't we," said Wayne, "No reason to give someone a hard time just because they may or may not have some animal ears." "You sound just as naïve as the last time we fought," Said Drake as he took a fighting stance, "I'll just have to beat the lesson in to you," Said Drake as his black mist started to form again.

"Same goes for you," said Wayne as he stood ready, charging energy in his right hand where he held his remaining weapon, while he held his helmet in his other hand. Drake's mist charged towards him one more time, this time it started glowing a bright blue as energy flowed through it and rushed towards Wayne. Now's as good a time as any, thought Wayne as he charged even more energy into his weapon and unleashed his new attack. With only a single swing multiple energy slashes were released from Wayne's weapon, a couple more swings released even more waves in quick succession in all directions in front of Wayne which impacted against the energized cloud.

A series of small explosions rocked the stadium as both attacks collided, causing some of the ground to shatter and send small bits of rubble flying in all directions, as well as kicking up a huge smoke cloud in front of Wayne. Let's see if you figured it out, thought Wayne as some of his attacks managed to get through the energized mist. Suddenly Drake sprang from the smoke bringing both weapons to bear on Wayne.

But Wayne was ready this time and sidestepped deflecting one of the blades with his sickle before spinning out of the way of another slash. As Drake swung a couple more times, Wayne parried and dodged until Drake went for a vertical strike with his left weapon. Wayne quickly spun to the right and smacked Drake's hand with the helmet in his left hand. Drake visibly cringed as he dropped the blade, but managed another stab at Wayne, knocking the helmet out of his hand as Wayne barely managed to avoid the blow.

The two fighters engaged each other again, slashing, kicking, and occasionally punching as they blocked and avoided each other's blows. At one point they locked weapons again, grabbing each other's weapon hands with their free hands as they tried to wrestle each other's arms out of the way. Suddenly, their attention was drawn upwards as the whole other structure above them was cut and blasted open by a black glass blade. In another instant, an injured Exo went flying out as Aegis with his own damaged outfit, scarlet eyes and a menacing looking black sword blade formed on his weapon leaped after him. As the two left the building it began collapsing and falling in the direction of Wayne and Drake. The two fighters glanced at each other before pushing away from one another and leaping out of the way of the massive falling debris. Alright time for a new plan, thought Wayne as he dodged, dived and rolled out of the way of the debris and ran to the edge of the cityscape, let's hope this works.

Of all the times for an interruption, thought Drake as he leaped out of the way of more falling rubble. I was about to skewer that blasted freak of nature, only for his own abomination of a younger brother to interfere. Drake dodged and dived around more rubble as he approached the edge of the cityscape. But Wayne won't escape, I have his scent, I can find him wherever he hides in this arena.

Drake dodged the last of the falling rubble as he stepped onto the section of the stadium full of large jagged rocks. Now where are you Ursario, Drake thought as he slowly started walking, his eyes scanning the area while he sniffed the air. You left a bit of a trail while you were trying to get away, he thought as he picked up Wayne's scent. After another minute of following the scent, something caught Drake's eye, a bit of white and grey just barely perceptible behind one of the thinner rocks.

You poor half-breed, thought Drake as stalked closer, making sure the wind was in his face so that his scent wouldn't reach Wayne, If only you had extra Faunus ears like a full Faunus, you might actually hear your death coming. After stalking just a little closer, Drake leaped and released some of his mist, energizing it with the last of his energy dust and released it in a slashing wave which cut clean through the rock and anything on the other side.

I'll get disqualified for that, thought Drake as the dust settled, but I hadn't intended to win this tournament anyway. Drake waited and listened but there was no announcement, why was there no announcement. Drake approached a little closer as the dust finally cleared and his eyes widened at what he saw. Just a coat, Drake nearly exclaimed out loud, then where's-. Drake didn't have time to finish his thought.

Wayne, without his coat, leaped out of his hiding place just as Drake was turning around and slashed Drake's hand, causing him to drop his only remaining weapon as Wayne kicked him in the chest then spun and slashed, hitting Drake in the mask and knocking him over as Wayne took a couple steps back.

"Nearly had ya," said Wayne as Drake clambered to his feet, a hand covering his face, "I was aiming for your center, but you moved so now you might have a scar on your hand, which I think the ladies still like." "It wouldn't be the first scar you ever left on me," said Drake as he removed his hand, revealing his predatory yellow eyes and a burn mark which covered the area above his nose and either side of his eyes, "You do remember this I hope," asked Drake.

"How could I forget," said Wayne as he held up his left arm where the two slash marks he'd gotten were, "I'm reminded every time I take off my coat." "It must make you feel so superior," said Drake, "Being born with a powerful semblance." "I did feel that way once," replied Wayne, "But I got over it, heck some days I even envy those whose semblances aren't destructive, be them human or Faunus."

"Why would you ever envy the weak," spat Drake, "This is a world where power makes the rules, it is why the Faunus must fight for what they want." "And that's exactly your problem," said Wayne as he threw his weapon down, embedding it in the ground, "Having power doesn't make you better, it's how you use it that makes all the difference," Wayne took a fighting stance, "So let's finish this, no semblances, no weapons, just a couple guys slugging it out."

"Fine," said Drake as he took his own fighting stance, clawed gloves barred, "Squeezing the life out of you with my bare hands sounds more fun anyway." The two fighters starred each other down for a moment before charging. Drake started with a spinning kick, which Wayne ducked before throwing a left hook. Drake blocked his attack and tried slashing at his face once, then twice, but on the third try Wayne batted with his left hand and threw a right cross, hitting Drake square in the face. Drake reeled back, but managed to get a kick in under Wayne's guard, forcing him back a bit.

They exchanged and blocked several more blows from each other before Wayne managed to catch Drake's right arm with his left and elbow him in the face with his right arm. But Drake managed to recover, block Wayne's next blow and spin around, catching Wayne in the face with a back hand. We're both exhausted, thought Wayne as he continued throwing and blocking blow after blow, my hand to hand is a bit slow. Wayne took a kick to his side as he thought this, but as Drake came in with another punch, Wayne moved to the side and caught his right arm as he placed his hand on Drake's shoulder and forced his arm up, leaving his ribs open.

Wayne punched Drake in the ribs three times before releasing his grip and kicking Drake in the side, causing him to fall backward. As Wayne tried to force his opponent to the ground, Drake used the momentum of his fall to pull Wayne down and kick him over. Wayne landed on his back before quickly rolling over and scrambling to his feet at the same time as Drake before charging again. Wayne threw another punch at Drake, which was blocked and counter-attacked as Drake hit Wayne in the face with a palm-strike.

Wayne reeled back a bit, but managed to catch Drake's next swing as he grabbed his opponent's right arm and collar and kneed him in the chest before punching him in the face. As his opponent reeled back, Wayne tried a spinning back kick, but was intercepted as Drake closed the gap and caught his leg and brought his elbow down on Wayne's leg. An involuntary yelp escaped Wayne's mouth as Drake tossed his leg away and came in with a ferocious claw attack. Wayne sidestepped as best as he could, grabbed Drake's arm and twisted before punching his opponent's joint.

Drake screamed in pain as Wayne released him and the two fighters backed up before charging one last time, Drake with a claw strike and Wayne with a right cross. As their arms crossed, Wayne managed to move to the side just enough to avoid Drake's outstretched hand, while his own blow hit home, catching Drake square in the face and knocking back. Drake staggered with his head hung a little lower, his exhaustion showing as Wayne delivered one last upper cut to his face with all his strength, knocking Drake off his feet and onto his back.

"And that's the match, what a stunning victory by team WA!" Port suddenly boomed over the loudspeakers. Wayne looked up and saw that Aegis and Exo were both below the aura meter limit, and Wayne was just one percent out of the red. Wayne leaned against a large jagged rock, finally letting exhaustion take over.

"How," Wayne suddenly heard as he looked over to where Drake was laying on the ground. "How could you possibly beat me twice, after all the time spent training and studying you?" "You still don't get it do you," said Wayne, breathing hard as he let himself sink to the ground a bit, "After all this time you still let your arrogance get the best of you, you still think that just because you were born different that you deserve more, or that you're better somehow."

"How could you understand," Said Drake between breaths, "You were born in a place of acceptance to a huntsman and huntress, with a powerful semblance and plenty of opportunities." "So what if I was," said Wayne, "You're here too, fighting in the Vytal festival tournament, can you really lay there and tell me you didn't have opportunities and choices, that after everything you've accomplished to get here that you still don't."

Drake remained silent, so Wayne continued. "Life ain't easy, but it only gets harder if you spend all your time hating, give people a chance once in a while and you might be surprised." Drake simply grunted at that as Wayne's attention was suddenly drawn by the arrival of Ruby and Velvet, followed closely by Weiss.

"Oh my gosh are you okay," asked Ruby in a semi-panicked voice. "My leg's a bit stiff but nothin' a little bit of rest and aura healing won't fix," Replied Wayne, "Though I don't think I'll be able to make your match Weiss, you're gonna have to find someone else to yell stupid stuff at you for your match."

"Here let me help you," said Velvet as she put Wayne's arm over her shoulders and hauled him up. "By the way how's Aegis," asked Wayne as he saw Yang and Coco walking over, both supporting him as his head was drooping lazily. "Your brother made quite a mess of the stadium," said Coco.

"Yeah they're gonna have to remove part of the arena to repair the environment," Said Yang. "How are ya bro," asked Wayne. "My head hurts, my joints hurt, my ass hurts, and at some point we punched each other in the # #s so that hurts too."

"Come on, we'd best get you two to the medical wing," Said Yang. "Hey Wayne," Wayne turned his head to see Blake, "I managed to find this." She held up his helmet, which had a gash in its left side and both eye visors broken. "Oh thanks Blake," said Wayne, "though now I'm, fairly certain that my Dad is gonna kill me for that."

 **Ladies and Gentleman, my two new OCs, Drake Beller and Exo, hoped you liked them, and don't worry, this won't be their only appearance if you're worried about that. As for Wayne and Aegis, a bit of hospital time and embarrassment befalls them next chapter. Oh, and Wayne explains the meaning behind the pendant he gave Emerald. Thanks again to everyone whose taken their time to view, follow, and review this story. 'Til next time.**


	30. Bedside Pains, And Wishes

**Bedside Pains, And Wishes**

Beacon Medical Wing

"They'll both be fine," said the Nurse, "They just need a little rest and some time for their auras to recharge and then they'll be back in fighting shape by tomorrow." Everyone was relieved to hear the news and after a few parting words from their friends, Wayne and Aegis were left in the room with their parents, who still had a few words for them.

"You remember this helmet has been in the family for generations," said their father, "It has been through countless battles and a few wars and the last time it sustained this much damage was during one of the bloodiest battles of the Great War itself." "I remember," said Wayne as he sat up on his hospital bed, "I studied the history of that helmet and the rest of the family like you told me to do, and I don't think you ever had anyone after you like that Drake guy was."

"I've had one or two in my life," replied his father, "But they came after I was a full-fledged huntsman, which makes me worry a bit about the both of you if someone wants to defeat you so badly when you're hardly even out of your first year at Beacon." "That's the interesting part about it," said Wayne, "Me and Drake have met before, at a tournament I went to while I was in Sanctum academy, though at that time he was called Dracus Bell."

"But he was expelled from the academy after trying to kill you outside the arena, how and why is it he entered the tournament here?" asked his Mother. "Probably a false name and transcripts," said Aegis, "I'll bet he's not the only one at this tournament who ain't who they say they are." "As to the why, well that's obvious," said Wayne. "He wanted to fight you again," Said their father.

"Well if that's the case here," his father said, handing Wayne and Aegis their weapons and a spare pair of wrist wires for Wayne, "I hope his reasons for being here are just because he wanted to fight you, but in case those aren't his only reasons we're having guards posted outside the room." "We should have posted them a bit earlier in my opinion," said their mother as she got up and walked a couple of feet towards the door. "Now we can't jump to conclusions," said their Father.

"That's why I'm asking first," said their Mother as she suddenly reached behind one of the hospital curtains in a blur of motion. A yelp quickly followed as she yanked a familiar dark-skinned, green-haired girl out from behind the curtain and held her up by the scruff of her shirt. "Wait, I'm a friend," said Emerald in a slightly panicked voice, "I was just checking on Wayne and Aegis." "How long have you been back there?" Asked their Father.

"I just snuck in now, I didn't want to interrupt anything," Emerald replied, with a pleading look in her eyes. "Wait Mom put her down that's Emerald," said Wayne. "Oh this is Emerald," said their Mother, quickly relaxing as she put Emerald down and started looking her over. "Yes, I'm Emerald Sustrai, I'm from Haven and-," Emerald started to say.

"So you're the girl my son keeps sparring with," said their Father, "Well he was always one for the mischievous types." "Dad I actually said-," Wayne tried correcting him. "And she smells nice too, no wonder you sniffed her the first time you met her," said his Mother. "Mom I told you it was a misunderstanding," Said Wayne.

"It's no wonder you kept an eye on her too," Said his Father. "Aegis I told you not to tell anyone about that," said Wayne, now irritated while Emerald seemed to be turning several shades of red. "Hey at least I didn't tell them about you two dancing together," said Aegis. "Oh you did did you?" Said his Father, an eyebrow raised.

"Aegis!" Wayne was embarrassed now, and definitely turning a few shades of red. "Which makes me wonder, did you really come here just to check on him or did you have other ideas," his Mother asked Emerald. "MOOOOm," groaned Wayne.

"I was just making sure he was okay," said Emerald, visibly embarrassed. "And Wayne, don't you know you're supposed to wait 'til the first date, at the earliest, to give a girl the stone pendant," Said his Father. "Dad could we please get back on track here?" Groaned Wayne. "Yeah you haven't even asked if they're dating yet," said Aegis.

"You're not helping," said Wayne. "Well are you," asked his Father. "NOOOO!" Wayne and Emerald practically screamed.

Aboard Medical Shuttle: Same Time

"So where's the location we're supposed to drop these guys," asked the Co-pilot as the medical ship fly over the city. "They said at the hospital on the far side of the city," replied the Pilot, "No idea why, but these two guys insisted that's where we drop them." "You think they're delirious," asked The Co-pilot.

"I think that-Gaaaaah-," The Co-pilot looked over to see that the main pilot had been impaled with a black blade, and standing over him was one of the two combatants with an enraged look on his face. The Co-pilot reached for his sidearm, but he never got close to it as a pair of powerful hands grasped his face and the back of his head and twisted. The last thing the pilot heard was the sound of bones cracking.

"Nice mess," said Drake as he pulled the Co-pilot from the chair and sat down, wincing a little from his injuries. "Just a little pissed is all," said Exo as he removed his blade from the other pilot, pulled his body out of the chair and sat down slowly, his own injuries bothering him, to take the controls of the ship, "I knew we wouldn't be moving up in the tournament, killing contestants is kind of frowned upon, but I didn't expect us to be the losers."

"Neither of us expected it," said Drake as he caught his reflection in one of the monitors which had been turned off, seeing his scarred face. "Well now what do we do?" Asked Exo, "Besides you know, sitting here and boiling with rage for a bit." "The plan is not in jeopardy," said Drake, "Mercury is in the finals, and now we have a medical ship and some medical uniforms so we no longer need to raid any of the hospitals for one."

Drake opened up a panel and disabled the transponder on the ship. "Well so long as it means I still get paid," said Exo. Drake only frowned at that as he sat back in thought for a bit. "What, no 'I need to find a greater cause' speech today," asked Exo. "I'm just not up for it right now Exo," said Drake as he looked at his reflection again and began searching some of the pilot's compartment.

"Wow, Drake Beller too tired to give a speech about his cause, now that is a surprise," Said Exo. "I got another one for you," said Drake as he pulled out a pair of sunglasses from the cabin, "As soon as we get out of the hospital back at base, I'm going to scout Beacon again, orders or not."

"Hey I respect that you want the guy dead," said Exo, "but I don't think now would be a good time-." "I'm not planning on it," said Drake, "I tried killing him once before and that's how I got this scar." "Okay, then what are you looking for?" Asked Exo. Drake simply put on the sunglasses before responding. "Not sure, but I think I'll know it when I see it."

Beacon Medical Wing

"So those were your parents," said Emerald over Aegis's snoring as she sat on a chair next to Wayne's hospital bed. Wayne and Aegis's parents had finally left after a little more embarrassment and being called away by an old friend. "Yeah sorry about that," said Wayne, "You remember what I told you about families being funny sometimes."

"Well a lot more about you makes sense now," said Emerald. "Should I take that as a compliment or should I be incredibly offended?" Asked Wayne, an eyebrow raised sarcastically. "Hmmm, I guess it's a compliment for the moment," said Emerald, "Though I also understand your sniffing habit now."

"Yeah Mom taught us how to track using our Faunus senses," Explained Wayne, "every so often we'd be running through the woods trying to find something she hid, or running from something that smelled like what we were tracking." "Did she do any of that on purpose?" Asked Emerald.

"Once or twice," replied Wayne, "The first time was a lesson to always be on guard while tracking our prey, the second time was mostly just to mess with us." "Well it beats the heck out of tailing people in a city," said Emerald, "at least in a forest you can hide behind trees." "Yeah until your little brother finds another scent and the next thing you know you're running for your life from a herd of Goliaths all because he wanted to eat some wild berries."

"Fair enough," said Emerald with a slight smirk. "But I am surprised," said Wayne. "About what?" Questioned Emerald. "That you wore the pendant I gave you," Wayne said. "Oh this," said Emerald as she held the pendant up, "Well I don't get a lot of gifts so it seemed only right that I wear this."

"That the only reason?" Asked Wayne. "Well I suppose it is nice in an old fashioned traditional sort of way, which reminds me, why did your Dad say you're supposed to give this to me on the first date?" "Well, how to explain it," said Wayne as he rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Pendants like those are a traditional gift in the town I come from, they're typically given for one of two reasons."

"And those are?" Asked Emerald. "Well most of the time they're given when one feels a connection with another person," Said Wayne. "Like when you have feelings for them," asked Emerald, looking at the pendant.

"Basically, it's most often a, I guess there's no better way to say it, a romantic gesture." Said Wayne, "But before you say anything know that it is also given for another reason." "What's the second reason?" Asked Emerald as she stopped examining the pendant. "It's also given as a hope of remembrance," said Wayne, "When someone wants another person to remember them."

"You really think I'd forget you that easily Wayne," said Emerald, "After all of our little encounters and sparring matches and the antics of your friends that we keep getting dragged into." "No, it's just that between classes, the Vytal Festival, and training we only ever see each other every so often and once the Vytal Festival is over I imagine you and the rest of your team will head back to Haven, which is a bit of a ways from my home and Beacon," Wayne pointed out.

"We can still keep in touch," said Emerald, holding up her scroll, "It's not like communication is a difficult thing these days." "Well that's the thing," said Wayne, "I had hoped to ask you out at some point during the Vytal Festival, but I wasn't sure I'd get the chance." "You wanted to ask me out," said Emerald, wondering if she heard Wayne right, "If you were so worried about it, why didn't you ask sooner."

"Because I'm a coward when it comes to things like that," said Wayne, "By the time I got my nerve up to do it the tournament had already begun, so I kept telling myself to find the right moment, kind of like a scene in one of those silly love stories." "You could've just called," said Emerald.

"Ah, call me old fashioned," said Wayne, "I wanted my first time asking a girl out to be face to face, but I thought I was running out of time." "So you gave me this pendant because-," Emerald asked. "I was afraid I'd never get the chance, so I at least wanted to give you something to remember me by,"Wayne finished Emerald's sentence for her.

Emerald was quite for a moment before she finally spoke. "Wayne Ursario," said Emerald before suddenly hitting him on the head. "OU, what did you do that for?" questioned Wayne as he rubbed his head. "I've been sitting here the whole time listening to you tell me how you couldn't ask me out because it never seemed like the right moment, well guess what here I am so what are you waiting for?"

"Emerald I'm not going anywhere 'til at least this evening," said Wayne. "I never said I was going to say 'yes'," Exclaimed Emerald, "I'm just giving you the chance to ask me out, so no more excuses, no more overthinking, just say the words and let me worry about the rest."

"Okay, easy," said Wayne as he took a deep breath, "Alright here goes, Emerald Sustrai, would you like to go out with me?" Wayne waited for the inevitable response as Emerald sat there in deep thought for a moment.

"The nurse said you won't be in fighting shape until tomorrow," said Emerald, "And I've got a lot going on tomorrow." "Yeah it's not the best time for-," Wayne started to say. "But you can be out of here and walking by sundown right," Emerald asked, cutting off Wayne. "Yeah I can," replied Wayne, a little confused.

"I have exactly three hours of free time at sunset before the finals begin tonight when I'll be waiting by the Beacon gardens, I won't be wearing anything fancy but I will expect you to be at least on time," Emerald said before she got up and started walking towards the door. "So is that a yes?" Asked Wayne. Emerald just turned and smiled before walking out the door. "So what just happened," asked Aegis, apparently awake now. "I don't really know," Replied Wayne, "But I think I just got a date with Emerald Sustrai."

 **And at long last Wayne gets a date. For those of you who aren't a fan of romance, don't worry, it only lasts one more chapter, just enough time for a date, and for things to go wrong. Once again thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers. 'Til next time.**


	31. Magic in the Gardens

**Magic in the Gardens**

Beacon Dorms: The Hour of the Date

"Try not to come on too strong," said Yang as she handed Wayne his coat. "And avoid all physical contact unless you know for a fact that's what she wants," Said Weiss. "Try to keep away from sensitive topics too, bringing up the wrong subject can make or break a date," Said Blake.

"This is sounding more complicated all the time," said as he Wayne as he slipped on his coat, "And once again you all didn't have to come to wish me luck, I'm not about to go to another tournament match or anything." Wayne had messaged Blake earlier to come and get his scroll so she could retrieve his spare coat from the team WA dorm room. He'd told Blake about his date he'd set up with Emerald, figuring there was no harm in a couple of his friends knowing.

What he hadn't counted on was Blake telling Ruby who, bad as she was at keeping secrets, had let it slip when she, Blake and Yang had brought Weiss to the medical wing to treat her for potential burns after their match against team FNKY. Though Wayne and Aegis had managed to get a couple jabs in about Weiss smelling like soot, the conversation became pretty one-sided when it was time for Wayne to start heading over to meet Emerald. Now here he was being rushed down the hall by all of team RWBY with each member giving him different bits of advice on how to make his first date with a girl successful.

"It's not as complicated as it seems," said Blake, "Just stay calm and be yourself." "And give her sweets, lots and lots of sweets," Said Ruby cheerfully. "I'll keep that in mind," said Wayne as they reached the exit to the building. "And if you get lucky just message us," said Yang, "We'll keep Aegis busy until you're done." "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," said Wayne as he stepped outside the door.

"Good luck!" Exclaimed Ruby. "Thanks," said Wayne as he walked outside leaving team RWBY standing in the doorway, I'm gonna need it, thought Wayne as he made his way to the Beacon gardens. Wonder if she even bothered to show up, he thought. But as Wayne approached he easily caught sight of his date, who was currently by the Beacon gardens watching people go by.

"Not late am I," asked Wayne as he walked up, "Or underdressed?" "Do this look like a dress," replied Emerald indicating the fact that she was wearing her usual outfit. "I guess not," said Wayne, rubbing the back of his head. "And as far as the time goes you're actually early," Said Emerald.

"So what did you have in mind," asked Wayne. "I'm not going to do anything," said Emerald, "You are going to show me around the garden and what you believe to be the nicest spots on the grounds of Beacon and no fairgrounds, we don't need any of your more, excitable, friends popping up." "Then right this way," said Wayne with a bow, "We start our tour at an over decorated entrance."

"You're kidding," said Emerald as they looked at a large batch of bonsai trees. "No I'm serious, Yatsuhashi planted these and every so often he sneaks off to tend to them." "It just seems like a giant like him-," Emerald started to say. "Wouldn't be good with gardening, yeah I thought the same thing when I found out," said Wayne, "but if there's one thing I've learned at Beacon is that people can surprise you."

"Oh believe me I know," said Emerald, "Though surprises aren't always a good thing." Emerald seemed to trail off as she broke eye contact with Wayne, as if she was unsure about something. "Well," said Wayne after a long pause between them, "Let me show you something that shouldn't be a surprise at all."

Wayne led Emerald over to a stump with a diagonal cut in it. "Guess whose work this is?" said Wayne. "Anyone I know," asked Emerald. "Aegis," Wayne stated in a matter of fact tone. "Your brother cut down a tree in the Beacon gardens, why?" Asked Emerald. "You remember that little nos armores thing we did a few weeks ago," said Wayne, "Well the night before I'd called Aegis to tell him about my unfortunate arrangement, I could hear him yelling from across campus even with my phone muted and then he cut down the tree."

"What exactly does your brother have against the heiress?" Asked Emerald. "Oh Aegis has never been fond of how the Schnee dust company treats its Faunus labor force," said Wayne, "That and Weiss's initial rich girl attitude, you know the type, stuck up, demanding, expecting instant respect." "Oh I know the type," Said Emerald.

"And speaking of Weiss," Wayne said as he led Emerald over to a bench near the center of the garden, "Weiss sometimes comes to this spot in the gardens to practice her singing, she says it's good to sing in the fresh air now and then." "And what about you," asked Emerald, "You ever come out here to practice your semblance or anything?" "Every once in a while yeah," replied Wayne as he walked over to a large oak tree, "This type of tree grows in the forests back where I live and the scent reminds me of home."

"Do you just smell it?" Asked Emerald. "I sit under it and read when I got the time, or sleep, and on occasion I do exercises to strengthen my aura, you should try it sometime, it's great for when you got an overly destructive semblance," Said Wayne. "Oh don't worry I won't be blowing anything up with my semblance any time soon," said Emerald.

"Come to think of it you've never told me what your semblance is," said Wayne as he put his hand to his chin in wonder. "It's just a passive ability," said Emerald, "It does take time and concentration to use effectively, but it's nothing compared to your semblance, that's why I forfeited our first match." "Well we're not fighting now," said Wayne, "And you already told me Mercury is fighting in the final round so you don't have any real need to hide it."

"Yeah I know," replied Emerald, "It's just, compared to your semblance mine is laughable." "Why don't you show me and let me decide if I think it's laughable," said Wayne. Emerald looked unsure for a moment but then nodded her head and stepped back, a look of concentration forming on her face as she raised her hands up. In another moment several small particles of green light began forming around the garden.

Wayne continued watching as the particles started joining together and forming multiple images. Soon enough the Beacon gardens were filled with green glowing birds, a few glowing deer, a glowing wolf and when Wayne turned around he saw a glowing silhouette shaped like Emerald walking up to him.

"That's incredible," said Wayne, a sense of wonder in his voice as he held his hand up. "It's nothing special," said Emerald as the silhouette of her held its hand up and passed it through Wayne's own hand, "I can create these light images, but they're only good for a distraction," said Emerald, "Your semblance creates attacks in many different forms: waves, beams, energy balls and you can project them from multiple points on your body."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," Said Wayne as he gathered a bit of energy in his hand creating a small blue ball, "I can only create simple shapes, so far anyway, and the only thing they're good for is destroying things." Wayne ended his sentence by letting the ball of energy shoot into the air.

"Yeah but it's a lot better than putting on a light show," said Emerald as she lowered her hands, causing the images to disappear. "You know there are some days I wish I had a different semblance," said Wayne, "One more like yours." "Why would you want a passive ability," asked Emerald, a little surprised. "Then I wouldn't have to worry so much," replied Wayne, "Not about destroying everything, or accidently injuring civilians, or hurting my friends and family."

"You mean you don't enjoy being strong?" Asked Emerald, "Not once have you enjoyed commanding an ability which lets you basically blow your enemies and everything else to pieces?" "I used to," said Wayne, "Before I brought down a passenger airship." "Oh yeah, that" Emerald stammered a bit, a little embarrassed, "But it turned out okay didn't it, I mean we all make mistakes."

"Yes we do," Replied Wayne, "And It was because of my mistake that day that I realized a few truths about power and being strong," said Wayne. "What truths?" asked Emerald, tilting her head in confusion. "That power can also be a burden," said Wayne, "and that being strong is not just about having strength, but knowing how to use it and when."

"So what would you do if you had a passive ability?" Asked Emerald. "It would depend," replied Wayne as he stepped forward, "If I had a semblance like yours not only could I distract people I could light caverns to show people the way out, bring smiles to kid's faces with funny little figures, light up festivals, or if I had a semblance to heal people I could save numerous lives, or an ability to repair things like Goodwitch, and I wouldn't have to worry at all about hurting my family or friends or you."

"Why am I not in the 'friends' category," asked Emerald. "Well, uh, it's because, I mean you are my friend of course, but also, oh how to put this," Wayne rubbed the back of his head nervously as he stammered through his words, "I mean my friends mean a lot to me, but you well you mean, may as well say it, you mean a bit more to me." Emerald took Wayne's hand in hers, attempting to calm him down.

"It's okay Wayne breath," Said Emerald. Wayne took a deep breath before resuming, a lot more calmly. "I guess what I'm trying to say is-," Wayne was suddenly cut off by the sound of both their scrolls buzzing. "Hold on," said Wayne. "I got to answer mine too," said Emerald. "Now's not the best time," Wayne whispered angrily into his scroll.

"I know bro," said Aegis over the scroll, "But they're calling for the folks in the final round to show up a bit early." "How early," asked Wayne, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. "Like an hour early," said Aegis. "You have got to be kidding me," said Wayne, his annoyance rising.

"I wish I was," said Aegis, "But they say they it's best to have us all assembled early so they can get final preparations underway." "So I've got to go now then don't I," said Wayne with a sigh. "Unfortunately yeah," said Aegis. Of all the timing, Wayne thought with a sigh. "Alright, I guess I'm on my way," said Wayne finally, "Meet me outside the stadium so we can figure out our last minute details." With that, Wayne hung up as he turned back to Emerald, who looked almost as disappointed as he did.

"I'll have to tell ya a bit later if you don't mind waiting a little longer," said Wayne. "It's okay Wayne," said Emerald, "My annoying teammates need help and I'm apparently the only one who can solve this problem." "To be continued then," said Wayne with a bow before he took off towards the garden gate.

"Is your lover boy gone," asked Mercury mockingly as his voice echoed out of the scroll. "Yes he's gone, now what's the real problem," asked Emerald, more annoyed than she thought she'd be at Mercury's sudden call. "We need you at the stadium, Cinder says it's time for the next phase of the plan," Said Mercury. "On my way," said Emerald with a sigh as she hung up on Mercury. I know it's all just pretend, thought Emerald, but would it have been so bad to let the nice guy finish his confession. With another sigh, Emerald headed off towards the other entryway to the garden.

A Few Irritating Minutes Later

Wayne was close to fuming the whole airship ride over to the stadium as he tapped his foot on the floor panel, his arms crossed in frustration. Of all the bad timing, Wayne thought as he sat back in exasperation, I just needed one more minute, ONE minute to tell a girl how I felt. Here's hoping I don't wind up participating right now, thought Wayne, even in a tired state more things tended to blow up when I fight while in a bad mood.

"Over here bro," yelled Aegis, waving at Wayne as he stepped out of the airship with the other passengers. "Well this is a bit ridiculous," said Wayne, "Calling even the injured finalists and giving us a last minute announcement, I barely had time to grab my combat outfit." "Tell me about," said Aegis as they began making their way towards the stadium entrance for competitors, "I was having a good meal and arm-wrestling with Yatsu at the fairgrounds, then comes the announcement: All finalists please report to the stadium within the next hour!" Aegis said, with an odd imitation of Oobleck's voice.

"You do a terrible imitation of Oobleck you know that," said Wayne as they continued walking. "Hey it's hard to imitate a guy who talks at nine hundred miles an hour," Said Aegis, taking mock offense, "But in all seriousness." Aegis stopped in front of the entrance to the stadium, causing Wayne to stop as well. "There is one matter we never got around to settling," Said Aegis as he held his fist out.

"You're right," said Wayne, also holding out his fist, "It's time to decide." "Who's going to fight in the finals," finished Aegis as both he and Wayne raised their fists over their heads and brought them back down quickly, once, twice, three times before yelling ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS. Aegis won first with rock, then Wayne won the next one with scissors, and then finally, bringing their fists down one last time, with paper beating rock.

"I don't believe it," said Aegis. "Neither do I," said Wayne as he held up his hand, still in the shape of paper, "I haven't beat you in rock, paper, scissors in ages." "Ordinarily I'd say you were cheatin' or somethin'," said Aegis, "But tonight all I got to say is this." Aegis held up his hand and Wayne clasped it like they were about to begin an arm-wrestling match.

"Good luck out there brother," said Aegis. "Thanks, I might need a little luck tonight." With a final nod the two brothers parted ways as Aegis made his way to the spectator section and Wayne continued into the room where the other finalists were and waited for the time to be called into the arena.

"And here they are," boomed Professor Port over the loud speakers, "Your finalists for this year's Vytal festival!" Wayne looked up at the roaring crowd as he stood shoulder to shoulder with the other finalist. Wayne was closer to the left side of the line of finalist and as he looked to his left he saw some of the finalist he knew, such as Pyrrha, no surprise there, Penny, Mercury, Yang, and Sun, which was kind of a surprise considering how his team had handled one of their last matches.

The other finalist Wayne saw as he looked to his right were fairly unfamiliar to him. "Now the randomization process will begin," said Port as the crowd roared in expectation, "Much like in the field the combatants will have no prep time before dealing with their opponent, so who will the first two be?"

The large screen at the top of the stadium had flickered on and started rotating the pictures of the finalists as everyone, including Wayne, held their breath in anticipation of who would be first selected. Finally, the shifting images slowed until two familiar pictures stopped like a slot machine. "The first two combatants are Yang Xialong and Mercury Black!" Yelled Port. With that, the other finalists were given the signal to leave the arena as a rack of overhead lights and cameras came down to help the audience get a clear view of the fight.

Wayne heaved a sigh of relief as he sat down. That was more nerve-wracking then I thought it was gonna be, he thought. "Gettin' cold feet," said Sun as he plopped down next to Wayne, "Not that I'd blame you, I mean after all it could just as easily have been us for this round." "Nah," replied Wayne, "It's just exhaustion, and it's been a long time since my last tournament, and I've only been in one other, so it's also nerves too, I guess."

"I hear ya," said Sun as the bell to begin was sounded and Yang and Mercury squared off with a flurry of kicks and punches. "Of course I am glad I don't have to fight one of them right now," said Wayne as he watched Mercury smash some stadium tile with his foot, "I still don't know all of Mercury's tricks and we both know how hard Yang can hit." "Ugh, don't remind me," said Sun as he watched Yang get two good hits on Mercury, "My abs still hurt when I think about our last sparring match."

"Yeah it'd be a shame if you had to go around with a closed shirt like the rest of us," said Wayne with a slight smirk. "No point in having it if you can't show it off a little," said Sun, smirking back. "Of course now I'm hoping Yang wins," said Wayne. "Might not want to make a bet out of it," said Sun as Mercury managed to get a good hit on Yang and then called down a barrage of shots which he'd had circling the stadium, all of which rained down on Yang. "In fact, better not make a bet out of it," said Sun as Mercury turned to walk away.

"Wait for it," said Wayne. In another moment a pillar of flame leaped into the air as Yang stood, her once blue eyes now blood red as she charged at Mercury. "Oh nuts I forgot she could do that," said Sun as they both watched Yang unleash a barrage of punches on Mercury and then with one final upper cut the match was over as Mercury's aura flashed and disappeared.

"Good thing we weren't betting," said Wayne as he watched Mercury get up while Port was announcing Yang as the winner. "Yeah, now one of us might actually have to fight her," said Sun. "Good thing she's not totally ruthless then," said Wayne, "otherwise we might-BANG, CRUNCH." Wayne's sentence was cut short as he tried to process what he'd just saw. Yang had turned around and, punched Mercury in the leg with her weapon, and if Mercury's screams of agony were anything to go by, his leg was definitely broken.

"What in the world," Wayne said standing up straight from where he was sitting. "That's what you get," he heard Yang say as several robotic soldiers suddenly surrounded her as Yang looked on in confusion. "Yang Xialong stand down!" One of the soldiers ordered. "What," Yang said, with a look of complete confusion on her face.

"What did she just do?" asked Sun as he put his hands to his head in bewilderment. "Mercury," Wayne heard Emerald's voice as she ran onto the arena while Mercury suddenly started screaming out, asking why Yang attacked him. Wayne looked at the footage again, hoping he'd only been seeing things, but there it was, playing over and over again. His friend, Yang Xialong, had attacked and broken the leg of a competitor for no apparent reason. What is going on, thought Wayne, what is happening.

 **And the plot thickens yet again as Cinder's plan moves forward, and let me tell you, she will not tolerate anyone getting in her way. Stop in next time as Wayne and Aegis try to figure out what happened with Yang's fight, and the return of an earlier OC to the Beacon campus. Once again, thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and followed this story to get us to a milestone of over 3,500 views, your support helps keep me writing this story. 'Til next time.**


	32. High and Low Tensions

**High and Low Tensions**

Warehouse District

Well it worked alright, thought Emerald as she stood in the deserted warehouse watching the multiple newsfeeds covering the incident at the stadium and the spike in Grimm activity. You were right about one thing Wayne, thought Emerald, one doesn't have to have a destructive semblance to accomplish something.

"Hey I was watching that," said Mercury as Cinder flipped off the newsfeed. Mercury was sitting down with his right leg propped up on the table, making repairs to the mechanical prosthetic. "Shut up," said Emerald, a bit more annoyed than usual by Mercury. "Is this how you treat a patient," asked Mercury, mockingly. Instead of answering, Emerald grabbed the screwdriver Mercury had been using and twisted it, greatly tightening the joint.

"Ou, to tight," Mercury groaned. "Enough," said Cinder, "Mercury did a fine job, he was quite brave." "So what's next," asked Emerald. "I'd like to know that as well," said Drake Beller as he stepped out of the shadows, wearing an undamaged set of his combat attire. "Ah Drake, are you here with a message from Adam?" Asked Cinder. "Adam simply wants to know when the time will come to make our move, he's getting tired of waiting," Stated Drake.

"And I'm personally getting' tired of all this sneaking around," said Exo as he stepped out of the shadows as well, "Shadowy conspiracies are all well and good, but I get paid to kill people and destroy stuff, not to sit around and wait." "Just have a little more patience," said Cinder, "By tomorrow night everything will be ready."

"Including the Grimm you've decided we need," asked Drake, his voice dripping with a bit of venom. "Do you not approve Drake?" Asked Cinder, her sly demeanor unchanged. "With the destruction of a few key threats we should have more than enough might to accomplish our objective without using indiscriminate monsters," Replied Drake. "If we are to accomplish our objectives we must sow as much chaos as possible," said Cinder, "and what better weapons for sowing chaos than the enemy of humanity itself."

"But they're not just humanity's enemy," said Drake, trying to control his temper, "They are the enemy of the Faunus as well, if we unleash them on the battlefield they will be as much of a threat to our troops as they are to our enemies." "I'm certain the White Fang can handle a few Grimm," said Cinder, "As you should already know waging a war requires sacrifice."

"Sacrifice!" Drake nearly yelled as he grabbed the grip of his weapon, "Needlessly endangering our troops with something that could easily backfire on us isn't sacrifice it's pointless waste!" "I'm certain you can replace your troops easily enough," said Cinder, still holding her same malevolent smile. "YOU-," Drake was about to draw his blade when a needle sharp point was suddenly held to his throat.

"Ah perfect timing Neo," said Cinder as the parasol wielder stood with her blade to Drake's throat, "I do believe Mr. Beller here was about to do something very unwise, what do you think Exo?" Exo sighed before answering. "Let it go for now Drake," said Exo, "You know we're no match for her." Drake's gripped tightened a little more on his weapon until, with an angry sigh, he released his grip and let his hand hang down by his side. "There see, you do know how to be reasonable," said Cinder, a pleased expression crossing her face, "Neo if you wouldn't mind showing Mr. Beller the door."

"Don't bother," sneered Drake as he pushed the sharp blade away from his throat, "I'll show myself out." Without another word Drake headed out of sight. "And what about you Exo?" Asked Cinder, "Do you have any complaints about our plan of attack." "Personally I couldn't care less what it is you hope to accomplish," said Exo as he turned to leave, "I'm a mercenary, just so long as you keep giving me targets and filling my bank account, I'll go along with just about anything."

With that, Exo exited the room. "Ha, I like that guy," said Mercury as he got back to working on his leg. "Yeah you're two peas in a pod," said Emerald. "Well either way now that that distraction is dealt with, we should move onto the next phase," said Cinder as she started walking out of the room. "Mercury, you'll lay low until the end, Emerald and I will make sure the next match goes smoothly." "Will do," said Mercury with a sinister smile as Emerald and Cinder began to leave. As they were about to exit the warehouse, Neo drew Cinder's attention to her.

"What is it Neo?" Asked Cinder. Neo pulled out her scroll and held up a picture of Wayne and Aegis Ursario. "You're concerned one or both of them might sniff us out?" Asked Cinder. Neo replied with a quick nod of her head. "Hmm, what do you think about that Emerald?" Asked Cinder. "Well, uh," Emerald tried to think of how to explain, "Wayne once told me he more easily recognizes the scent of people he spends a lot of time with, and I remember Blake telling me he tracked her down in the middle of downtown Vale last semester."

"That is troubling," said Cinder as she put her hand to her chin in thought, "At this point all the preparations are complete, but for the plan to work to its fullest we need this final part to succeed, but if one of those Ursario brats sniffs us out and starts asking questions we'll have a lot more trouble than we bargained for, Neo," Cinder turned her attention back to the monochrome girl, "Since you have brought this to my attention, do you have a proposal to solve this dilemma?"

Neo took her hand and did an all too recognizable slicing gesture across her throat. "Yes I was thinking the same thing," said Cinder, "Just make sure it's discrete, and if you can't kill them discretely then at least get them out of the way long enough for the plan to succeed, after that it will be too late for any of them to do a single thing." As they exited the warehouse, Emerald looked at her scroll, noting several calls and messages had been sent to her since they'd left the arena. It's too bad, thought Emerald as she switched off her scroll, it might have been nice to at least say good bye to you, Wayne.

The Dorm of Team WA

Come on, thought Wayne as he held his scroll to his ear, pick up. The scroll continued to ring until finally it went to voice mail. Frustrated, Wayne tossed his scroll on his bed and sat down while trying to think of what to do next. "Still nothing," asked Aegis as he finished a call on his own scroll.

"Not a thing, not even a message," said Wayne, "All I've got is that they headed back home, what about you?" "Mom and Dad are okay," said Aegis, "but Grimm activity is way up and with the military calling for all available huntsman and huntresses, they're not gonna be back anytime soon." "And on top of all that we can't even talk to Yang thanks to General Iron twig's androids guarding the door," said Wayne as he rested his chin on his fist.

"We could always just bust up the androids," said Aegis as he brought his fist to his open hand, "Demand our right to speak and all that." "As much as I want to hit something right now, that'd be a bad idea," said Wayne with a slight shake of his head, "Ironwood himself is in there talking to all of team RWBY." "What do you think Yang's chances are?" asked Aegis.

"Probably not good," said Wayne, "I clearly saw Yang punch Mercury in the leg while he was just standing there, but Yang says he attacked her." "You think Happy Feet may've just twitched in some way Yang didn't like?" asked Aegis. "It's possible," said Wayne as he rubbed his chin in thought, "But then why wouldn't Yang say 'he was about to attack me' or something along those lines, instead she said she 'was' attacked."

"So what we saw and what she saw might've been different?" Asked Aegis. "Seems a bit more likely," said Wayne, "You remember what Mom told us before she and Dad got called out, about stress-induced hallucinations on the battlefield?" "I remember her mentioning something about extreme exhaustion, malnutrition, and massive blood loss or injury could sometimes make one delirious," Replied Aegis.

"Yeah by definition, if Yang was really "stressed," Wayne, despite his mood, couldn't resist using air quotes for the word 'stressed,' "Then she might have started to see things." "She did take a couple of good hits from Mercury," said Aegis. "Yeah but think back," said Wayne, "Her semblance allows her to absorb a lot of damage, and while she has been knocked close to unconsciousness before, she didn't look at all unsteady or confused."

"So if it wasn't hits from Mercury," said Aegis, "You're thinking there might have been some other weirdness goin' on?" "Yeah," replied Wayne, "Just based on my personal experience in my last tournament, there are probably all manner of people who would want to get ahead by cheating in the Vytal Festival matches, or if they couldn't win in their match they'd want to get back at the ones who beat them."

"Well that means we got at least three teams of suspects if we're gonna be doing detective work," said Aegis, "But I think we can count out team FNKY, just 'cause they took losin' with style." "I guess that means one of us will have to have a talk with team AMBR," said Wayne. "But that's not the only group of suspects is it," said Aegis, "We still got the other finalists, and there's always the possibility Happy Feet tried pullin' a fast one during the match."

"That's just the thing," said Wayne, "If it was Mercury using some chemical compound during the match, why wouldn't he have used it sooner to make sure he won, and if he messed up using the compound then it should've still worked earlier or not at all." "Unless he was only supposed to use it if he lost the match," said Aegis, "In which case we might be able to find something if we slow the footage down and look at the fight."

"There's also one other possibility," said Wayne, "Someone outside of the ring was using their semblance to mess with Yang's mind." "Yeah but who do we know that could do a thing like that?" Asked Aegis. "Off the top of my head I don't remember any of the finalists having mind control or illusion semblances, but that doesn't mean someone on the competing teams can't do it," said Wayne, "Though the only person I know who even comes close to using an illusion semblance is that psychotic parasol girl, but I don't see what she or her boss would have to gain from getting Yang disqualified."

"Oh all this detective talk is gonna make my head hurt," Said Aegis. "Well whatever the reason we can't really do anything until Ironwood is done talking to Yang," said Wayne. Aegis was about to say something, but the sound of metal legs moving down the hallway drew Aegis' eyes to the door. "Looks like now's our chance, sounds like he just got done."

Wayne and Aegis stepped out into the hallway to see team RWBY, minus Yang, talking to team JNPR at their doorway. Wayne heard the last part of the conversation with everyone wishing Pyrrha good luck as JNPR retreated to their dorm and the three members of team RWBY came walking down the hall towards Wayne and Aegis. "So how bad is it," asked Aegis as they fell into step with Weiss, Ruby, and Blake.

"Yang's been disqualified from the finals," said Weiss. "What, but they hardly even investigated anything," said Wayne. "Ironwood said people had already drawn their own conclusions, apparently Yang would've been disqualified no matter what?" said Ruby with her head hung low. "So what does everyone else say happened?" Asked Aegis.

"The official story is a stress-induced hallucination," said Blake, "Yang only thought she was being attacked." "How's she taking it?" Asked Wayne. "You know Yang, she's strong, but she's still gonna need some time," Said Weiss. "Did she seem at all delirious to any of you?" Asked Wayne. "What do you mean?" Asked Ruby as they started down the stairs.

"Did she seem overly exhausted, pale, unsteady or anything along those lines?" Asked Aegis. "Now that you mention it, she seemed just fine right after the match when we were talking to her," Said Blake, "Why?"

"Just a theory or two," said Wayne as they exited the lobby, "Anyway you guys go on ahead, I need to look into a couple of things and get ready for the next match." "Alright, I'll be watching if you get picked Wayne," said Ruby as she gave Wayne a hug, "Good luck and win one for Beacon." "I will," said Wayne as he hugged Ruby back. With one final good bye, the rest of team RWBY went on their way.

"So what're we thinking?" asked Aegis. "Ordinarily I'd want to ask Mercury a few questions but he's not here," Replied Wayne as he crossed his arms and put his hand to his chin in thought, "So for now we find and question team ABRN and the finalists, and team CFVY." "Why team CFVY," asked Aegis. "Just another theory, one which I hope isn't true, but I'm gonna ask them if Coco or Yatsu had a hallucination while they were fighting Mercury and Emerald," said Wayne.

"That's a lot of ground to cover," said Aegis, "Wanna just meet up at the stadium right before the next match?" "That'll work," said Wayne, "If we're lucky I won't be the next one picked in the randomization process and we'll have a bit of time to work out a few details." "And if we're unlucky, you get picked and then we have to wait until you're done with the match." Said Aegis. "Could be worse," said Wayne as he turned to leave, "Message me if anything really important comes up." "Got it," said Aegis as he started off in the opposite direction.

Beacon Grounds Near Shooting Range

I have always thought these schools were strange, thought Drake as he made his way around Beacon, but this is the first time I've actually tried looking at them with something other than contempt. Drake had long hated places like Beacon, mainly because it was a place where humans and Faunus mingled together like equals, something which Drake, until recently, had never wanted to accept.

But now, here he was wearing a regular gray hoodie and jeans and a pair of large sunglasses to hide the scars around his eyes. Though his weapon still hung at his hip like always, Drake had no plans to use it or draw any kind of attention to himself, no, he was simply strolling. The biggest question to Drake, though, was why, why had he felt the need to come back to Beacon, what was he looking for?

The only answer he could think of was that he wanted to know what it was that Wayne Ursario was fighting so hard for, what was it he saw that Drake didn't. Drake continued to stroll across the Beacon grounds and into what looked like a long range training area as thoughts and doubts entered his mind which he had long forced back for years, and for the first time he let himself wonder if Blake had been right to leave the White Fang, if they really had lost their way.

A shot on the range suddenly rang out which drew Drake's attention, his hand reflexively reaching for his weapon, but he relaxed it once he realized it was only one of the former competitors which had been eliminated, which team had she been on, BRNZ. Drake shook his head as he released his grip on his weapon. It didn't matter, a Beanie wearing girl with dark pink hair and baggy clothes was no concern of his, especially considering what would soon happen to this place.

Drake continued to walk on behind the girl trying to ignore her as she fired off another shot at the moving targets down range. Despite himself, Drake couldn't help but notice that her aim was a little off. "You're firing too quickly," said Drake, almost without realizing it. "Huh!" the surprised girl accidently fired off another shot as she turned to look behind her.

"Was that comment directed at me?" Asked the girl. "I don't see any other sharpshooters on this range," Said Drake, "Though I notice your aim could be sharper." "Ah yeah," said the girl, "It usually is, I'm just frustrated right now." "Well a big part of sniping and sharpshooting is being able to keep calm and steady," said Drake, "You should know this already."

"I do," said the girl, flushing with embarrassment, "It's just, every time I think about the match me and the team lost I just," the girl was growing so frustrated she couldn't even finish the sentence. "Defeat is never easy to accept," said Drake, "I spent two years consumed by my inability to accept defeat at the hands of an opponent I thought was inferior." "Ouch," said the girl, "That's uh, quite a grudge, how close was the fight?"

"It was close the first time, and even closer this time," replied Drake. "Closer this time," the girl said out loud before looking more closely at Drake, "Holy, you're Drake Beller aren't you?" "No, I'm uh-," Drake tried to reply but the girl cut him off. "Your team was awesome," said the girl, "You mopped the floor with your first set of opponents, and you even gave those Ursario guys a run for their money, and the two of them managed to beat a four person team!"

"Well, the first team was a joke," said Drake, "They didn't use their cover effectively and panicked when Exo popped up behind them." "And how can you shoot so accurately in that smokescreen, even the tournament cameras couldn't see what was happening inside that thing," Asked the girl. "Well uh," What am I doing, thought Drake, why do I care at all about this girl, "I can see through the smokescreen because it's my semblance, as for the shooting it's all about careful timing, slow breathing, and patience, you know the basics."

And why do I keep talking to her. "Why don't you show me," asked the girl, "I always like to see how I stack up against another sharpshooter." Drake, thought hard for a moment. What do I have to gain from this, why should I even be bothering with this, then again what did I expect to find when I came back to this place.

"Oh by the way," said the girl, "My name's May, May Zedong, so what do ya say, wanna fire off a few rounds?" Oh # # it why not, Drake finally thought. "Sure," replied Drake finally as he unhooked his weapon from his side and switched it to its rifle form, "Just try not to get too frustrated if you miss more than me." "You're on," said May as they both took aim.

 **And that brings us to the end of this chapter, and what do you know, Drake can play nice. But that's about as happy as it's gonna get as next chapter begins the invasion of Beacon and the fall of Vale. Thank you to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers who have kept up with this story. 'Til next time.**


	33. The Nightmare Invasion Begins

**The Nightmare Invasion Begins**

Beacon Grounds

"So you're saying Coco swore she saw Yatsu?" Asked Wayne. "Yeah," replied Velvet, "She hadn't mentioned it before because she thought it was just her, but with it happening to Yang too Coco's starting to think the tournament might be getting to all of us." "And it just so happened that they were fighting Cinder's team when she started hallucinating?" Questioned Wayne.

"Yeah, but it's probably just a coincidence," Replied Velvet. "Have you told anyone else about this?" Asked Wayne. "I just told Ruby a couple of minutes ago, but otherwise no," said Velvet, "I figured it wouldn't have helped much considering Yang's already been disqualified." "Yeah I can understand that," said Wayne.

Suddenly Wayne's scroll began to buzz, indicating he had a message. Wayne checked it, and was quite surprised by who the sender was. "Everything alright Wayne," asked Velvet, taking note of his surprised expression. "Uh yeah, I just need to take care of something urgent that's come up," replied Wayne halfheartedly.

"Well I'm sorry I couldn't help more Wayne," Said Velvet apologetically. "You were a bigger help than you think," Replied Wayne, "And tell Coco and the others I said hi." "I will," said Velvet as Wayne turned to Leave, "And good luck with the rest of the tournament Wayne."

"Thanks, I'll do my best," said Wayne as he waved back. Now then, Wayne thought as he looked at the message. 'Meet me at the Beacon Cliffs, I'll explain everything.' What's going on, thought Wayne as he checked the ID of the sender, how are you even here right now Emerald.

Beacon Cliffs: A Few Minutes Later

This is something else, thought Wayne as he made his way along the familiar route, I've only visited the Beacon Cliffs a handful of times since the initiation last semester. After another minute of walking, Wayne arrived, but it wasn't Emerald who was waiting for him.

"You're not Emerald," said Wayne as he approached the dark-haired girl wearing a maid-like outfit. The girl turned to him and simply smiled as she waved him over. Wayne walked over, a little wary now that he saw who he was meeting. "If I remember correctly you are a member of Emerald's team though, what are you doing here?" Asked Wayne as he stopped a few feet from her.

The girl only continued to smile as she started turning and pirouetting around Wayne, slowly closing the distance between them. "Not much of a talker huh," said Wayne, to which the girl responded by happily nodding her head. "Well I guess that explains why we never saw you outside of your matches," Said Wayne as she stopped hardly a foot from him with her hands behind her back, a playful smile on her face as she lightly shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Well just so you know I've got hardly an hour before the tournament resumes, so whatever it is you need it's gonna have to be," Wayne stopped speaking for a moment when he noticed the scent, a very familiar scent, "quick." Wayne crossed his arms as he slowly reached his right hand into his coat. The girl smiled more mischievously as she leaned forward and held up her scroll. On the scroll were a few simple words: "Don't worry, it will be :)."

Wayne pulled out his right weapon as the girl's arm flew up, stopping him from bringing his gun to her head. Wayne quickly pulled out his left weapon and tried firing at her torso, but she leapt upward, pushing off Wayne's arms as she landed behind him. Wayne spun around and fired with both weapons, but the girl materialized an umbrella from seemingly out of nowhere and blocked all of his shots.

"So it's you isn't it parasol girl," said Wayne as he shifted his weapons to sickle form. Lifting up her umbrella to rest on her shoulder she smiled at him again with that same sinister smile she always wore as her eyes turned to pink and brown and her black outfit faded away into the familiar pink, white and black outfit he'd come to know. Wayne readied himself as she closed her umbrella and leapt forward.

Wayne leaped forward as well as he swung both of his weapons at her head and midsection, but she spun out of the way to avoid his first strike and deflected his second strike with her umbrella. Wayne tried delivering a kick to her midsection, which she also batted away with her umbrella and countered with a kick of her own aimed at Wayne's head, which he blocked with his forearm. She followed up with another series of graceful kicks which Wayne blocked, dodged, and spun out of the way of before attacking with a few slashes of his own.

But the parasol fighter was slippery and avoided Wayne's first few strikes before leaping and twisting in the air, grabbing the collar of Wayne's coat as she dug her heels into his back and pulled, yanking Wayne off his feet and into the air. Wayne rolled twice as he hit the ground, switching his weapons into gun mode as he did so while quickly regaining his footing and firing another volley, which was also blocked by the girl's umbrella.

Worth a shot, but I guess regular bullets really won't cut it, thought Wayne as he shifted his weapons back to their sickle form and began charging a blast in both of his weapons. The girl lifted up her umbrella, with an even more wicked smile on her face as she held up her scroll. "My name is Neo, Bye bye for now :)." Bye bye for, Wayne thought with confusion until he glanced down. # %# , thought Wayne as the parasol girl activated the platform beneath him, sending him off the cliff and rocketing into the air over the Emerald Forest.

This is just great! Thought Wayne as he attached a wire to his right weapon and tossed it into a nearby tree. The weapon embedded itself in a tree as the wire attached to it grew taut, stopping Wayne's forward movement while also yanking the sickle out of the tree. Wayne adjusted his fall and landed on the nearest large branch he could find as his weapon came reeling in. Wayne landed and caught his weapon, detaching the wire as soon as it was fully reeled in.

Of all the things to get me, thought Wayne with irritation as he hit the trunk of the tree he was on, causing the wood to splinter and crack, Stupid stupid stupid! Wayne seethed with anger for another few moments, until he remembered what he'd been taught about assessing a situation. Stay calm Wayne, he thought, think, why would they be trying to get you out of the way. Wayne's attention was diverted back to the Beacon Cliffs as an Atlas military shuttle suddenly came into view.

Wayne squinted his eyes, trying to see what it was doing as it stopped by the launch pads where Wayne had just been, hovered for a minute, then departed heading away from Beacon. That thing's heading in the direction of the military cruisers, but why would they? It hit Wayne like a flood gate opening. They're trying to take out the airships and if they do that then. Wayne's question was answered as the sound of beowolves howling suddenly filled his ear. Grimm invasion.

"Is he out of the way," asked Drake as he steered the stolen Atlas shuttle away from the cliff. Neo nodded, her usual sly grin crossing her face. "Yeah but he didn't look all that dead, flying through the air," Said Exo as he peered out the viewing window. "The Grimm in the forest have increased greatly with all the negative emotions from the tournament," said Drake, "If nothing else, he'll be occupied long enough to put the plan into motion."

"Well it'd be more fun to take them out ourselves any way," said Exo as he turned back to Neo, "But you'd best make sure to kill all those guys on the airship or this part of the plan goes up in smoke." Neo simply unfolded her umbrella as she shifted her outfit to look like an Atlas military uniform. "And here," said Drake opening a storage bin and handing her a cane and fedora. "The vagabond can be useful at least one more time."

Emerald Forest: Several Minutes, and Dead Grimm, Later

#$ # thought Wayne as he finished off the last of the beowolves and headed back towards the cliff, pulling out his scroll as he did. Come on pick up, thought Wayne. After ringing three times, Aegis picked up.

"Wayne where are you, the randomization process is about to start," Said Aegis. "Forget the randomization process, we got a nightmare of a situation about to go down!" Yelled Wayne as he leaped from tree to tree. "What are you talking about?" Asked Aegis. "Where are you right now?" Asked Wayne.

"I'm outside the stadium waitin' for you," said Aegis. "Listen, you need to get in there, get to the back room and stop the tournament now, I don't care how you do it!" Said Wayne, urgency clear in his voice. "What, but why, what's going on?" Asked Aegis, completely confused. "The parasol girl working for Torchwick attacked me, she's been in disguise on Emerald's team the whole time, they're gonna try to take out the airships!" Wayne yelled again. "But if they do that then, got it, I'll let everyone know," said Aegis.

"Good, call me if anything important comes up," said Wayne as he switched off his scroll. I hope we're not too late. Wayne leaped through a few more trees before stopping at the base of the cliff. What's the fasted way up, thought Wayne. Suddenly a number of screeches filled the air, drawing Wayne's attention to the sky as four-legged, horse-like Grimm with large wings flew overhead. Beats running up the cliff, thought Wayne as he readied the wires in his sleeves.

Vytal Festival Stadium

Darn it where is the way to the main booth, thought Aegis as he made his way through the maintenance area of the arena. As he turned a corner, he found an unexpected site. Ruby was on the ground, and standing over her was none other than Mercury Black, without even a noticeable limp to his step. Aegis pulled his weapon off his back, glad that he'd equipped it in case his and Wayne's little investigation of the tournament went south and was about to charge towards Mercury when Ruby used her speed semblance to leap off one, then two walls as she sailed past Mercury and came running straight towards where Aegis was at.

Thinking quickly, Aegis backed up and waited for Ruby to pass by him, then as Mercury came running around the corner, Aegis swung his weapon, knocking Mercury upside the head and sending him flying backwards. "Aegis, what are you doing here?" Asked a surprised Ruby as she stopped running for a moment.

"I was about to stop the match," said Aegis, "But it looks like I'll need to make an honest man out of Mr. Handicap here first." "Heh, just try it," said Mercury as he jumped back up and took a fighting stance, a sly grin crossing his face as well. "Go Ruby, I'll handle happy feet," Said Aegis. "Be careful," said Ruby as she zoomed off. "Too bad really," said Mercury, "Exo wanted one more chance to tear you apart." "Well you can tell him after I send you back to him in pieces," said Aegis as he and Mercury charged at each other.

Beacon Cliffs: One Grimm Ride Later

Never thought I'd be crashing another Grimm into a cliff like that so soon, thought Wayne as he ran from the Beacon Cliffs to the main part of the Beacon campus. What to do now, thought Wayne, there has to be a way to warn everyone else at once. Suddenly Wayne's scroll started buzzing, alerting him to an incoming message. Wayne slowed to a stop as he pulled out his scroll and opened the message menu to find a link to a live feed. What's this, thought Wayne as he opened the link.

Wayne's immediate reaction was disbelief, then horror as he realized what he was looking at. It was a live broadcast of the arena, and Pyrrha was using her polarity semblance on, Penny Pauluntenna, tearing the android girl to pieces. "Penny," Wayne yelled in disbelief, not quite realizing at first that it was him yelling. What happened Pyrrha, thought Wayne, you'd never do something like this on purpose, unless. It was then that it clicked for Wayne as three words floated up to the surface of his thoughts.

'Stress-induced hallucination,' thought Wayne, or rather semblance-induced. Wayne's thoughts were interrupted as the live feed was suddenly replaced with a red screen with a black queen's chess piece in the center. "This is not a tragedy," said a familiar female voice from his scroll.

"This was not an accident," continued the speaker as Wayne noticed that the voice was not only coming from his scroll, but all the speakers around the fairgrounds. I know that voice, thought Wayne as the woman over the intercom continued speaking, demonizing Atlas, Pyrrha, and the headmasters of the other academies while also questioning the wisdom of the very system of the four kingdoms, worse, she claimed that the kingdoms were on the brink of war, asking the people who they thought they could trust.

It was you all along wasn't it, thought Wayne, clenching his fist in rage as the feed on his scroll went dead, Cinder Fall. Suddenly, the sound of alarms going off all over Beacon could be heard, followed by a voice saying words Wayne thought he'd never hear while he was at Beacon.

"Incoming Grimm attack, threat level nine," said an automated female voice over the loudspeakers. Have to move, thought Wayne as he started running again, this time towards the fairgrounds, have to get help and if possible find Cinder. Wayne's scroll buzzed again, this time with a tone indicating a call. Wayne pulled out his scroll again, quickly checked to see that it was Aegis calling.

"What's happening over there?" asked Wayne as he continued to run. "Mercury was here and he tried to hurt Ruby a little while ago," said Aegis, "We threw down for a bit but he got away." "Emerald was there too wasn't she?" Asked Wayne, already knowing the answer. "Yeah Ruby told me she was, how'd you know?" Asked Aegis. "I figured it out," said Wayne, "And the one behind it all, the one on the intercom was Cinder, she's been calling the shots the whole time!" "That means this whole thing-," Aegis said with realization. "It was her plan all along, she wanted an invasion of Vale!" Said Wayne, finishing for his brother.

 **And so it begins, the fall of Beacon and Vale and the Beacon students desperate struggle to save all that they know. Stop in next time to see everyone contend with the invasion of Grimm and White Fang. Also, a huge thank you to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers as we reach the next milestone of over 4,000 views. So thank you all for giving me the encouragement to keep on writing. 'Til next time.**


	34. Monsters On All Fronts

**Monsters On All Fronts**

Fear, terror, and anguish filled the air as the fairgrounds flooded with Grimm of all types tearing through the trees and stalls, chasing after the frightened citizens of Vale as the android security forces tried desperately to keep them at bay. Wayne had heard stories, from his parents and other huntsmen and huntresses, about what it was like when a battle commenced out of seemingly nowhere, about how a peaceful scene could become a nightmare, but it wasn't until now that Wayne truly understood, just how quickly that transformation could take place.

As Wayne burst through the foliage he saw the fairgrounds, which hardly an hour ago had been filled with laughing, smiling, happy people, was now filled with the sounds of fleeing, panicking civilians and roaring Grimm. This is monstrous, thought Wayne as he gazed at the nightmare before him, I have to do something, anything. Quickly donning a temporary replacement helmet he'd been carrying, Wayne charged into the fray, drawing his weapons as he opened fire at a few Grimm flying through the air, filling them with energized bullets as they crashed to the ground.

As Wayne landed, a few beowolves tried to strike at him, but he evaded and unloaded several shots into their heads and upper bodies. Protect the people, thought Wayne as he shifted his weapons into sickle form and slashed at an oncoming Ursa, focus on what you have to do right now. The Ursa roared in anger as Wayne managed to slice one of its arms off, but was quickly silenced as Wayne spun and slashed at the Ursa's neck, beheading it. A few down and only a thousand or so to go, thought Wayne as he buried his weapon's blade into the head of a nearby Creeper.

Wayne cut through several more Grimm before shifting his weapons back to their SMG forms and started picking off even more targets from a distance. As Wayne continued fighting, another sound drew his attention, the sound of landing weapon lockers. Wayne looked over to see Weiss and Blake about to retrieve their weapons, when another Creeper leaped in front of them, barring its fangs. Wayne leaped upwards and fired at the Grimm, filling its head full of bloody holes as it collapsed with one final roar of pain, shortly before Wayne landed right behind Blake and Weiss.

"And you guys said I was paranoid for always carrying my weapons around," said Wayne, finding it slightly odd that he was still able to joke at a time like this. "Wayne, where've you been," asked Weiss as she and Blake retrieved their weapons from the lockers sticking out of the ground. "Short version," replied Wayne, "Let's just say I was led astray." "Wayne the White Fang are here," said Blake, "They're releasing Grimm onto the school grounds."

"That explains how so many Grimm got here all at once," said Wayne as he turned and shot at a charging beowolf, downing it, "We'll need to clear them out too so everyone can evacuate." "Then we can't waste any more time," said Weiss as she charged forward and cut through several Grimm, "Let's get moving you two," Weiss yelled back as they began running for the docks. "Blake," said Wayne, drawing her attention as they ran, "I know the White Fang is here, but we've got to focus on protecting the people first." "Don't worry about me Wayne," said Blake, "I know what our job is, I won't let myself get distracted." "I figured as much, I just wanted to hear you say it," said Wayne. Blake simply smiled as the three of them rushed towards the docks, cutting down any Grimm that got in their way.

Vytal Festival Coliseum

What in the world is going on, thought Aegis as he looked up at the giant Nevermore trying to break through the stadium's force field by pecking on it with its giant beak. First Pyrrha loses it and dices Penny, then a broadcast of doom, now Grimm are invading Vale, and that's just what he knew so far. Aegis looked down at Ruby, who'd collapsed to her knees upon seeing what happened to Penny, and Pyrrha, who was in the middle of the stadium, was in a similar state of shock, not seeming to notice Jaune's calls as the Nevermore broke through the barrier.

Not good, thought Aegis as the Nevermore landed, creating a burst of air which sent both Pyrrha, and Jaune, who'd tried to get Pyrrha out of the stadium, flying backwards. Aegis raised his hands to block the blast of air blowing in his face before looking back to see the Nevermore reaching for Pyrrha with its massive beak. Like heck you will, thought Aegis as he leapt forward with all his might, covering the large distance between him and the Nevermore as he pulled out Ursus Cleaver and stabbed the Nevermore in the chest using a flaming glass spear he formed. A red blur also slammed into the Nevermore, adding even more force to the blow.

The Nevermore screeched in pain as it was knocked several feet back while Aegis landed between it and Pyrrha. In another moment, Ruby landed next to Aegis, holding one of Penny's blades. "Ruby, Aegis," asked a surprised Pyrrha.

"Leave her alone!" yelled Ruby as she readied the blade in her hands. "Nice to have you back in the fight Little Red," said Aegis as he readied his own weapon. The Nevermore screeched again as it took flight and circled the stadium before flying straight at them. Come and get it you overgrown chicken, thought Aegis as the Nevermore approached. Suddenly, one, then two, then several more weapon lockers came raining down upon the Nevermore, burrowing into its back and driving it to the ground as it shrieked in pain.

The Nevermore's momentum allowed it to slide along the ground until it was just a few feet from Aegis and Ruby, then, with one final shriek, it collapsed on the ground in front of them. As the Nevermore lie motionless, all the weapon lockers embedded into its back began opening as all their friends and a few of the other teams they'd faced off against in the tournament collected their weapons and stood ready to take the fight to the Grimm.

Suddenly, the Nevermore stirred, causing some of their friends to lose their balance as it lifted its head once more, but a combination attack by Ren and Nora, as well as the swinging of Sage and Yatsuhashi's, who had a little help getting airborne, blades, the Nevermore's head was severed from its body as it quickly dissolved away into nothingness. That was a bit closer than I would've liked, thought Aegis.

"Ruby," said Pyrrha suddenly as she looked up from a piece of Penny's clothing she'd been staring at, tears in her eyes, "I'm so sorry." "It wasn't your fault," replied Ruby solemnly. "She's right," said Jaune, walking over with Pyrrha's shield and sword, "The woman on the microphone, she's the one who did this."

"Cinder Fall," said Aegis, drawing everyone's attention. "Wait, you can't mean Emerald's friend flaming eye lady?" Asked Nora. "I wasn't so sure when Wayne first told me, but think about it," Replied Aegis, "both Mercury and Emerald were here despite the fact that they were supposed to be out of town, and not hardly an hour ago Wayne was attacked by their teammate in the maid outfit, who it turns out was that grinning parasol girl, the one who fought Yang on the train."

"Well whoever it was," said Jaune as he held out Pyrrha's weapons for her to take, "We can't let them take anyone else." After a moment of hesitation, a look of determination spread over Pyrrha's face as she accepted her weapons. With everyone now armed they prepared to leave, only to be stopped by the sound of roaring aerial Grimm who'd begun gathering around the stadium.

"Griffons," said Neptune, voicing everyone else's thoughts at the arrival of the new Grimm, "Anyone got a plan?" "Sun, I'm gonna need your scroll," said Ruby. With a nod, Sun reached into his pocket with his tail and tossed his scroll to Ruby, who quickly typed in the code for her locker. In another moment, Ruby's weapon locker landed at the stadium and opened to reveal her scythe, Crescent Rose.

But, as Ruby approached the weapon, one of the Griffons landed on the locker, roaring as it poised to strike. A shot rang out, wounding the Griffon as it flew off. Everyone turned to the source of the shot. "Student's," said Professor Port as he stood next to Oobleck, both teacher's weapons in hand, "I think it'd be best if you leave."

Ruby started to protest, only to be cut off by Oobleck. "Miss Rose," said Oobleck, "This day will likely go down in history, I would prefer my students live to tell about it." Ruby wanted to protest more, but ultimately nodded in agreement, then, grabbing her scythe, her and everyone else hurried towards the exit and out onto the docks.

As expected, the docks were full of Grimm, and more were being released by the White Fang every few minutes. Thanks to the androids, and Ironwood, they were being repelled for now. But how much longer is that gonna last, wondered Aegis as he and the other teams stopped in front of General Ironwood, who'd just finished killing an alpha Beowolf.

"What's going on?" asked Ruby as they stood in front of one of the docked ships. "Grimm are all over the city, the White Fang has invaded Beacon, and to make matters worse, some criminal has taken control of one of my ships," replied Ironwood.

"This day just keeps getting better," said Aegis as he turned and decapitated one of the smaller Grimm that had been rushing towards the group with Ursus Cleaver. "That's why I am going to take back control of the skies," said Ironwood as he turned to board one of the military shuttles. "What should we do?" Asked Jaune.

"Either defend your kingdom and your school," replied Ironwood as he turned back towards them, "Or save yourselves." Aegis just snorted at that last comment as everyone else remained quiet. "No one will fault you for leaving," said Ironwood as he turned back to the shuttle and ordered the pilot to move out. The airship had hardly left the dock before Aegis turned and started heading towards a shuttle.

"So where is your destination," asked Yatsuhashi. "Where do ya think," Said Aegis, "I'm going to Beacon, finding my brother and the rest of my friends, and then," Aegis hit the switch to lower the ramp, "I'm going to beat the ## # out of every last one of these invading douche bags."

"Well I hope you don't mind company," said Sun, "Because we're all coming with ya." Aegis simply grinned as he and everyone else stepped on board the shuttle and began the flight back to Beacon.

Beacon Academy: The Grimm-infested Docks

Wayne sliced the head off of an Ursa, sending it rolling away as its large body fell to the ground with a thud and began dissolving immediately. "That's all of them over here," said Weiss as she finished up the two Grimm near her. "My side is clear as well," said Blake as she landed next to Wayne.

"Well these docks are clear, what about the courtyard," asked Wayne. "Still has several Grimm, but the soldiers and androids are also there," replied Blake. "We'll head there next," said Wayne as he began to run towards the courtyard with Blake and Weiss both running on his right side.

"If we focus on the larger Grimm and the White Fang, the Atlas military and its androids should be able to push back any other small fry," said Weiss as they approached a line of the aforementioned androids, "We can win this so long as nothing happens to their defensive positions."

"Maybe this day won't turn out so bad after all," said Wayne. Suddenly, the line of androids heads bobbed up and down and the whole line turned towards them, their black visors illuminated with red lights Wayne had never seen before. That doesn't look right, thought Wayne as the androids raised their weapons and pointed them, at the three approaching students.

"Look out!" yelled Blake as she pushed Weiss down to the ground. Wayne realized an instant later and dove to the side as the androids started firing. Bullets flew mere inches past Wayne as he switched his Crescent Fangs to their SMG forms and began returning fire, taking out several of the androids.

You'd think they'd program them to shoot better, thought Wayne as he, Blake and Weiss got up off the ground, the girls taking their weapons out as they did so. "I take it back," said Wayne, getting to his feet as more androids with red visors approached, "This is the worst day ever, of all time."

Beacon Airspace: Same Time

"What's going on?" Asked Aegis as everyone looked at Neptune's scroll. "The same people who did that doomsday announcement earlier are sending out a live broadcast," replied Neptune, "And I think we may have another problem, the androids have been hacked."

"So what you're saying is now we have to deal with Grimm, the White Fang, and rogue androids?" Asked Coco. "Unfortunately, yes," Replied Neptune. "Fine with me," said Aegis as he pulled out his weapon, "Just gives us more stuff to hit."

Wayne leaped out of the way of another hail of dust bullets as he attached his weapons to his wrist wires and swung them several feet in front of him, decapitating several rows of androids with a series of spinning attacks. Weiss cleared out several rows of androids on her side while Blake knocked down several White Fang soldiers with several skilled swings of her weapon.

Wayne and Weiss then used a combination of her glyphs and a slash attack of Wayne's semblance to send a group of both androids and White Fang soldiers flying as the three friends landed next to each other and stood back to back, surveying the area for other threats. They didn't have to look far as a group of Atlesian soldiers were knocked aside by an Atlesian paladin, which had also been hacked by whatever signal hacked the androids.

"Come on," said Weiss as the three of them charged at the paladin. In another moment, however, one of the bullheads carrying an alpha Beowolf crash landed nearby, releasing its ferocious occupant on the still fleeing civilians. "I've got it," said Blake as she prepared to run after the alpha. "Be safe," said Weiss. "And get back as soon as you can," added Wayne as Blake ran after the alpha, while Wayne and Weiss continued towards the mech.

As they approached, the paladin swung its arm again, knocking over another group of soldiers. "Freeze one of its arms in place," said Wayne as the mech turned towards them. Weiss activated her ice dust and charged forward as the mech raised its arm to strike. As the paladin was about to drop its fist, Weiss formed a pillar of ice which formed around the paladin's fist and connected to the ground, temporarily trapping the limb in place.

Wayne built up his semblance as the paladin tried to free itself from the ice pillar, and leaped forward and unleashed a crescent slash which cut through the shoulder joint of the paladin, severing its whole arm as it stumbled backward a few steps. Let's give this trick a try, thought Wayne as he began charging up more energy. The paladin switched its remaining arm to its machine cannon form and aimed at Wayne. Just as it was about to fire, Weiss activated the fire dust in her weapon and hit the side of the paladin's left leg.

The impact created a short but dazzling display of red energy as the force of the blow caused the mech to lose its balance and topple back slightly as its remaining arm fired wildly into the air. Wayne took the opening as he managed to form and send out two spinning rings of blue energy, with one crashing into the paladin's knee joint and nearly slicing through it, while the other impacted against the cockpit and dug a couple of feet into the armor, knocking the paladin the rest of the way over.

As the paladin slammed against the ground Weiss leaped upwards, created a glyph in midair and launched herself downwards towards the paladin as she jammed Myternaster into the hole Wayne created and formed a mass of ice crystals underneath the mech's armor, shutting it down permanently.

"I didn't know you'd mastered that move," said Weiss as she pulled her blade out of the destroyed paladin. "I wouldn't say mastered," replied Wayne, his breathing more labored than before, "But considering the situation, we'll need to use every trick and technique we got if we're gonna survive this." As if to emphasize Wayne's point, another two paladins and several more Grimm suddenly came bursting into the courtyard, drawn by all the fleeing civilians.

"Every trick and then some," said Weiss as she and Wayne took fighting stances once again. As one of the paladins charged, a roar sounded from above them as Aegis came dropping down, swinging his weapon which was currently sporting a large cleaver-like blade on each side, glowing with the energy dust he was using as he sliced off the left arm of the charging paladin at the elbow, causing it to slow as it moved to regain its balance.

The mech never got the chance as Nora dropped down and hit its right leg with her hammer, causing the joint to buckle as the mech fell over. The other paladin was bombarded by gunfire as all of their friends, and a few teams from the tournament came either dropping from the sky or running into the fray.

"What kept ya?" asked Wayne as Aegis swung his weapon and cut through a charging beowolf. "You would not belief air traffic at this time of day," replied Aegis. "Oh well, we've just been busy fighting the crowd down here," Wayne quipped back as he knocked back a few charging White Fang members.

"Well you know how crowds and traffic gets during festival time," said Aegis. Wayne smiled under his helmet, still astonished and overjoyed by everyone's arrival. In his astonishment, Wayne almost didn't see the Griffon flying at him until it was nearly right on top of him. As Wayne moved to slash at the oncoming Grimm, the dark-skinned leader of team ABRN, Arslan, Wayne believed her name was, leaped off of Wayne's shoulder and hit the Griffon with a powerful palm strike, sending it flying downwards into the ground.

"Uh thanks," Said Wayne, "I had it but thanks." "Stay focused, this is still a dire situation," said Arslan. "Yeah I got it," said Wayne as he shifted his left weapon to SMG form and shot down a charging Grimm. "And if you do survive, tell your friend Xialong I want a rematch," said Arslan as she kicked the head off of an android. "Yeah sure," replied Wayne, "I'll tell her you want to arm wrestle or something, but we got to get through this first."

The Ruins of The Fairgrounds

I knew this would happen, thought Drake as he stabbed an alpha beowolf through the roof of its mouth with both of his blades, piercing its brain, or whatever passed for one in a Grimm. Things had gone off without a hitch with the announcement creating negative emotions to draw the Grimm, Neo's takeover of the Atlas control ship allowing the White Fang's airships to enter as well as the subsequent hacking of the Atlas androids, and even the strategic release of the Grimm seemed to be working, at first.

But just as Drake had expected, and had even warned Cinder about, as soon as the number of civilians and enemy soldiers dropped below the number of White Fang soldiers in the area, the Grimm had turned and started attacking them, greatly slowing their advance. Not only that, the Grimm which kept pouring in from the forest had started attacking the White Fang troops from behind, making the whole operation little more than barely controlled chaos.

As Drake pulled his blades out of the alpha, an Ursa and several other Grimm came charging at him with fangs bared. Drake tripped a canister of ice dust and used his smokescreen semblance to create a blanket of ice over the oncoming Grimm, slowing them down to little more than a crawl. It took Drake only another few moments to cut them all to ribbons. Just as he had finished cutting up the Grimm, his communicator buzzed.

Drake sheathed his blades and pulled out the communicator, putting it to his ear as he spoke. "What's the situation," he asked. "Sir, the Atlas soldiers are retreating to the docks but we've got another problem," said the White Fang soldier over the communicator. "What is it?" Asked Drake.

"Several groups of students from the tournament have arrived and are beating back our ranks, we've also got our hands full holding off the Grimm on our flanks," the soldier reported. "Where are Adam and Exo?" Asked Drake as he began to run through what remained of the fairgrounds.

"Adam and what remains of his advance troops are here in the courtyard, Exo is cleaning up any remaining Atlas soldiers defending the forest border," answered the soldier. Drake thought for a moment before he spoke.

"I want all squads under my command to pull out of the courtyard and take up defensive positions," ordered Drake. "Sir?" Asked the White Fang soldier, obviously surprised. "The androids have been hacked, and if we let the Grimm continue to pour into the courtyard that should provide more than enough chaos for the plan to succeed, at this point it's time for us to start pulling out."

"But what about-," "Let me worry about what Taurus will do, just start getting our troops out of there," said Drake, cutting off the White Fang soldier. "Understood sir," said the White Fang soldier as Drake returned his communicator to his pocket. What in the world could be worth all of this, and how does it help the Faunus, thought Drake as a groan suddenly drew his attention.

Making his way through a cloud of smoke, Drake found buried beneath the wreckage of one of the vendor's stalls, a small girl. The girl groaned again as she shifted her head, revealing that she had a pair of dog ears on top of her head. Drake's eyes widened as he rushed over and started pulling some of the wreckage off of her. As Drake did so, the girl seemed to regain consciousness.

"Are you okay," asked Drake as he finished pulling off the last of the wreckage. The dog Faunus girl looked like she was about to say something, until she saw Drake's Grimm mask. In another moment, the girl began screaming and cowering away from Drake, a look of absolute fear in her eyes.

"Please don't hurt me," asked the terrified girl. "I'm not here to hurt you," said Drake in a confused manner, "I'm trying to help." "But you have a Grimm mask, like all those other soldiers who brought the Grimm in," replied the Girl, still trying to back away from Drake as she slid along the ground.

"They were just following orders," said Drake, trying his best to sound calm, "They weren't trying to hurt you or any of the other Faunus." "Liar," yelled the girl sliding further away whenever Drake got near her, "You let the Grimm monsters in, and set everything on fire, and because of you the Grimm chased away Mommy and Daddy!"

"We were just-," Drake didn't finish his sentence, he couldn't. What are we doing, thought Drake, who are we helping. "Drake!" a familiar voice sounded suddenly, drawing his attention. Several feet behind the girl stood May, her rifle aimed in Drake's direction. "May I-," Drake didn't get to finish his sentence as he saw the flash of the weapon and heard the crack of the rifle. Drake tensed, involuntarily turning his head to the side as he waited for the pain to come.

But it never did. Drake felt around his stomach and shoulders, his hand coming away with no traces of blood as he heard a thud behind him. Turning, Drake saw a Griffon with a hole in its head lying on the ground only a few feet from him. "May!" yelled the Faunus girl in relief as she ran over. May kneeled down and hugged the young Faunus girl.

"Iris I've been looking everywhere for you," Said May, relief evident in her voice. "I got trapped under some wreckage, I'm sorry May," Replied the girl. "Well you're safe now, we need to get you back to your parents they're worried sick," said May. Drake silently watched the exchange as he stood back up and turned to leave.

"Drake wait," said May as she slid her rifle on her back and picked up Iris in her arms, "What's going on, why is this happening?" Before Drake could answer, two White Fang soldiers suddenly came running through the smoke. "There you are sir, we've been waiting for you to show up," Said one of the soldiers.

"We got another one over here," said the other soldier as he pointed his rifle at May and Iris. "NOOO!" yelled Drake as he drew his blade and sliced both soldiers rifles in half. "Sir what are you-, that's a human," said the first soldier, a look of shock on his face.

"And she is holding a Faunus girl you blind idiots, now head back to your squad immediately and do not, I repeat, DO NOT attack any civilians, human or Faunus or I will cut you down where you stand and send your remains back to headquarters in a match box, am I clear!" Yelled Drake.

Both soldiers hastily replied that they understood. "Good, and when you get back tell the other squad leaders that I will contact them when and if am able, now go," Ordered Drake. The two soldiers nodded nervously again and turned and headed back through the smoke. With a sigh, Drake turned back to May.

"I imagine I have a lot of explaining to do," said Drake. "Well my first question is, are you on our side or theirs?" asked May. "For the moment consider me to be on your side May, at least until we get that girl to safety," Replied Drake.

"That'll work for now, but you'd best answer the rest of my questions later," said May. "I'll see what I can do, for now let's go," stated Drake. May nodded and turned to head out of the fairgrounds, when the ground shifted violently. "What the-?" asked a surprised May. "Oh no," said Drake, "She couldn't have really awakened it."

 **And that brings us to the end of this chapter as the struggle against Cinder's forces continues, the brutality of the attack pushing everyone to their limits and even leading some to question whether or not they're on the right side. Stop in next chapter as team WA confronts the ones responsible for Beacon's downfall. And as always, a big thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've managed to stick with this lengthy story, and don't worry, there is still more to come. 'Til next time.**


	35. Confronting Madness, And Love

**Confronting Madness, And Love**

The Beacon Courtyard: A Few Minutes Earlier

Wayne leaped upwards and spun, slicing the wing off of a Griffon, sending it careening towards the ground. As Wayne landed, he immediately had to dodge a boarbatusk as it went rolling by. "Aegis, incoming sky ball," said Wayne as the boarbatusk came rolling back towards him.

Charging up a bit of his semblance into his feet, Wayne slid forward and sent out a wave of energy which bounced the boarbatusk into the air, and made it a perfect target for Aegis as he cut through its unprotected belly with Ursus Cleaver. They didn't have any time to celebrate, though, as a Nevermore came swooping down on Wayne, who rolled out of the way of its outstretched talons as the Nevermore was chased away by bullets from Coco's gatling gun. We can't keep this up forever, thought Wayne as he switched his Crescent Fangs to SMG form and shot down a couple of androids from his prone position, we need to find a way to make the androids shut down and the White Fang retreat.

That was when he caught a whiff of something, or rather someone. Taking another sniff of the ground confirmed Wayne's suspicions, Emerald was still here, and the scent was fresh. "Aegis," said Wayne as he hopped up and fired his SMGs at another beowolf, killing it, "I got Emerald's scent, she's nearby," said Wayne.

"Wayne I know you want to settle things with her, but," Aegis tried to protest but had to evade an Ursa's paw. "While I really would, that's not it," said Wayne as he leaped over and cut through the Ursa's back leg, "If we find her we find Cinder." "And then we take her out," finished Aegis as he sliced the Ursa's stomach, knocking it to the ground, "I guess that might work."

"We have to go now though," said Wayne as he started off, following the scent as he dodged around Grimm and android fire. "But what about everyone else?" asked Aegis as he followed Wayne through the chaotic battlefield, "We'll stand a better chance if we have more fighters." "They got a more important job right now, you know we can't leave the docks undefended," said Wayne as they cut through another couple of Grimm and exited the courtyard, "But if Cinder starts to flee we may be able to push her towards this chaos, so that'll be plan B." "What's plan A?" Asked Aegis.

The Roof of A Beacon Dorm

"Beautiful isn't it," said Cinder as she stood on the roof of one of Beacon's many dorms, which offered her a fair view of the warzone that was the Beacon courtyards. "It's almost sad," said Emerald, standing on Cinder's right while Mercury stood on her left, using his scroll to broadcast the carnage unfolding in front of them. "It's horrendous," said Cinder, forming a large flame in her hand, "Wouldn't you agree Wayne." Cinder suddenly turned around and fired a large blast of dust-imbued flame at the intruder who'd climbed up on the roof behind them.

" # # ," Wayne swore aloud as he sent out the Crescent Wave blast he'd been charging at the flame blast Cinder had just used. The two attacks connected, creating a small explosion which shook the building. Not even waiting for the smoke to clear, Wayne shifted his weapons to SMG form and unloaded at the spot that he last saw Cinder, only to be met by the sound of ricochets.

After a moment, Wayne stopped firing and shifted his weapons back to their sickle form. As the smoke cleared, Cinder simply stood there with her hand raised and that same unnerving smile. Emerald had both of her weapons drawn while Mercury stood in a fighting stance, his scroll still in his hand. "Continue broadcasting Mercury," said Cinder, "focus on the Atlesian androids, and continue the broadcast to the very end, we'll handle the little party crasher." "Got it," replied Mercury, sparing one last glance at Wayne before he turned back to broadcasting with his scroll.

"'Little' party crasher," said Wayne as he shifted his stance, concealing his right weapon behind his right hip, "Considering you sent parasol girl after me before this thing even started I was hoping for better than 'little'."

"And I must say that I'm impressed," said Cinder, "Few people have managed to escape Neo when she's in disguise, and not only that you managed to make it out of the forest, figure out that it was us and where we were in all of this chaos." "I'm sure parasol girl was only playing, though it did make it obvious who to blame," replied Wayne, "As for the forest, well any good student of Beacon would've made it out of that, how 'bout you, you take a shuttle or Nevermore express?"

"He's stalling," said Emerald, "He's trying to charge up another blast in his right hand." "And you're tattling," Said Wayne, "Though given your history of lying through your teeth I don't think your mistress should pay much attention to you."

"Oh yes, dear Emerald did lie to you all, but she only ever tells me the truth, such as how you can only use so much energy before your semblance exhausts your body," Said Cinder, with a slight chuckle, "And I imagine this day has been quite exhausting for you already."

"Heh, you should've seen some of Aegis's shenanigans I've been through, now those are exhausting," Replied Wayne. "Yes, but you may want to save your energy," said Cinder as the building suddenly shook, "You don't want to miss what's going to happen next."

Another quake rocked the building as a distant rumble drew Wayne's attention to one of the mountains near the city as the top suddenly burst open, flinging rubble in all directions as a giant black dragon Grimm covered in bone with red, bat-like wings emerged and began flying towards Beacon at incredible speed.

"What on Remnant is that," asked a shocked Wayne, nearly losing control of the charged blast in his weapon. "That is merely the latest example of just how powerless your huntsmen academies really are," said Cinder with a wry grin, "And simply further proof of how foolish it is to stand against us, the same foolishness that led you to believe you could defeat us alone."

With a bit of effort Wayne tore his eyes from the sight of the dragon Grimm and faced Cinder. "It is astonishing, I'll admit, but now I'm a little disappointed in you," Said Wayne as he took a fighting stance, planting his foot extra hard on the roof. "And how so," questioned Cinder smugly.

"I never said I came here alone," Replied Wayne as the whole section of roof that Cinder and the others was standing on was suddenly slashed through, causing all of Cinder and her faction to fall backwards in surprise as the roof caved in under them. In the same instant, Wayne unleashed a blast of energy in the shape of an orb from his hand the size of two basketballs and sent it rocketing towards Cinder. Cinder reacted at the last second by shooting a massive blast of flame from her hands, pushing her downwards to the ground and away from the blast as Wayne's semblance exploded shortly after impacting against her flames.

Wayne ducked his head to avoid some of the rubble from the blast. "You okay down there Aegis," asked Wayne as some of the smoke cleared. "Fine," replied Aegis as a shield of glass and earth above him dissolved, leaving only his weapon's base pole form, "My aura is a little bit toasted though, but we got 'em right?"

"Not quite," replied Wayne as he looked down to see Cinder running down between the buildings, "Can you run?" "I'm good," replied Aegis, "Let's get after 'em." Without another word, both Wayne and Aegis leaped down and began chasing after Cinder, or rather, three Cinders. "What in the world, she can multiply," said Aegis as they turned a corner.

"Just keep following the one in the middle, the one that smells like ash," said Wayne. "Got it," replied Aegis as they continued pursuing Cinder around another corner and towards a hole in one of the buildings in which Cinder leaped through, or what appeared to be a hole. Just as he and Aegis went to jump through the hole, they hit full force into a suddenly appearing brick wall, smashing through it into the lobby of one of the other school dorms.

"That was different," said Aegis as he and Wayne scrambled to their feet. "It was an illusion," said Wayne, "But she's still close by." "You got other problems," said Mercury as he came leaping from behind, kicking Aegis further into the lobby. Wayne shifted his Crescent Fang to SMG form and pointed it at Mercury, but in that same instance a green sickle-head attached to a chain wrapped around Wayne's arm and yanked him off of his feet and out of the building as he was dragged several meters through the air towards an archway of another building.

Not good, thought Wayne as he shifted his position in the air and planted his feet against the wall of an archway, creating several cracks where his feet impacted. Nice try, thought Wayne as he yanked on the chain with both arms, pulling Emerald through the archway. Both fighters flipped and landed across from each other as Wayne managed to undo the chain around his arm and toss it back towards Emerald, who simply reeled it in and shifted her weapons to their revolver forms.

"You know Wayne," said Emerald, a mischievous smile playing at the edge of her mouth, "I had hoped our next encounter would be a fun one, oh well, this'll have to do." "Cute," replied Wayne with a frown, "But I don't have time to play with you right now, so either move or be moved, it's your choice."

"Oh don't be like that," said Emerald, "Serious Wayne is no fun." "How about angry Wayne!" He said as he opened fire with both weapons. Emerald nimbly dodged to the side as she returned fire with her own weapons. Wayne rolled out of the way as they continued to fire at each other, with Emerald leaping and flipping out of the way while Wayne spun and rolled to avoid Emerald's glowing green bullets as they circled each other. Sorry, thought Wayne as he ducked around one of the corners and began running away from the area, but as I said 'no time to play.'

But Emerald was onto him pretty quickly as she leaped off one wall then another, forcing him to slow down and roll under one of the archways for cover. Wayne stuck his left weapon out from behind the archway and sent out some blind fire in Emerald's direction before heading to the other side of the archway, but Emerald was waiting for him there as she came down swinging her sickles at him. Wayne barely managed to roll to the side as he shifted his weapons to their sickle form and blocked a few strikes before they locked their weapons, staring each other in the eye as they stood mere inches from each other.

"Leaving so soon Wayne," said Emerald with a bit of strain to her voice as she pushed her weapons against his, "You might give a girl the wrong idea." "You'd know," replied Wayne with barely concealed contempt, as he pushed a little harder against Emerald's weapons, breaking their weapon lock and forcing her back a few feet, "You've been giving me and everyone else the wrong idea from the very beginning."

"Don't take it personally," said Emerald, "It was just part of the job." "Well this is just part of my job," said Wayne as he charged forward, slashing low then high as Emerald deflected and dodged then countered with a few twirling attacks of her own, which Wayne spun and deflected before delivering a spinning kick of his own aimed at Emerald's head. Emerald was able to block the blow with her arms, but the kick still knocked her over.

"Oh," said Wayne as Emerald rolled back up, "and try not to take it personally if I turn you in." "You wouldn't do that too little old me now would you," said Emerald as she slowly circled around to Wayne's right, "You'd feel too GUILTY!" Emerald lashed out with her sickle on its chain length, striking from several feet away. Wayne moved to the side as he attached his wrist wires to his own weapons and swung them both out several feet.

Emerald ducked and spun out of the way of Wayne's ranged attacks as she continued swinging her chains at Wayne who dodged, rolled, and leaped as they continued their deadly dance. She's more sluggish than the last few times we sparred, thought Wayne as he narrowly avoided a strike aimed at his head, not that I'm in the best shape right now after using my semblance several times already.

After a few more strikes, Emerald suddenly embedded both of her sickles in the ground and used her chains to pull herself into the air. Wayne barely managed to reel his own weapons in and raise his arms before she flipped forward and hit him with a flying double kick. Wayne's arms took the brunt of the impact but he was still sent rolling backwards a few feet. Wayne quickly shifted his weapons form and opened fire while charging his semblance. Emerald, having reeled in her weapons earlier, skillfully deflected Wayne's shots by twirling her sickles. Try this, thought Wayne as he stopped firing for an instant and sent a small ball of his semblance out of the barrel of his right weapon.

Emerald was knocked back by the shot, but as she rolled back up, she seemed to disappear. Wayne advanced forward slowly as he scanned the area with both weapons held at the ready. "So you have some energy left after all," said Emerald, her voice seeming to come from all around him, "But I wonder how much more you can muster." Wayne sprayed the area in front of him with gunfire, only to be met with the sound of his shots impacting against the walls and windows of the surrounding buildings.

A stab of pain erupted across Wayne's back as he was sliced by a suddenly appearing Emerald. Wayne reflexively shot in the direction where the slash came from, but Emerald had already faded away. Wayne felt another slash on his left shoulder as Emerald appeared and disappeared, her laughter sounding from seemingly all directions again.

"Seems like you're about out of steam if this is all you've got?" Asked Emerald smugly. "I could say the same about you," said Wayne, holding his shoulder as he began slowly scanning the area again, straining all of his senses to catch even a hint of where Emerald might be, "I noticed some of your movements were slower and less coordinated than normal, and the fact that you're appearing and disappearing, which means."

Wayne made a dash for the space between two of the dorms which would take him close to the courtyard. Suddenly, Emerald appeared on Wayne's left, leaping at him with her sickles swinging. Wayne was ready, however, as he blocked and spun around to Emerald's right side with a kick to her midsection, knocking her away. Emerald quickly shifted her weapons and fired at Wayne, who ducked to the side and returned fire with his own weapons.

Emerald seemed to vanish again, but this time Wayne fired towards the alley he'd been running for. He was rewarded with the sound of Emerald's surprised yelp as some of his shots managed to hit her this time, causing her to reappear for a few moments before disappearing again.

"I thought so," said Wayne, "You're reaching your limits, you can't fight effectively and maintain your illusion semblance at the same time so you've just been trying to stall." "What can I say, it's been a long day," said Emerald, her voice sounding from everywhere again. "Yeah, no thanks to your mistress," said Wayne, "What'd she have, at least a few months of evil planning all to stir up a little chaos?"

"Cinder's plans are a lot more complex than your little brain could possibly imagine," replied Emerald, still invisible. "Yeah sure," said Wayne, "I couldn't even begin to count the number of allies she's thrown under the bus, tell me do you keep a tally on that?" "Expendable pawns," said Emerald, "Each and every one sacrificed was to further Cinder's goal, and don't think I'm gonna tell you what that goal is." "Then tell me this," said Wayne, "What'll you do when it's your turn?"

"What do you mean," asked Emerald, slight confusion entering her voice. "I mean when Cinder decides you're expendable, what will you do, will you just accept it?" Wayne questioned. "Cinder wouldn't do that," said Emerald, "I'm not some pawn like the others, she cares for me."

"Does she?" asked Wayne, "I mean she was willing to let Torchwick get captured, had Mercury get his leg broke, and is even at this moment likely condemning dozens of White Fang troops to their deaths by having them deliver Grimm, you know the kinds of things a loving, caring person does right?"

"You don't know her like I do," said Emerald, anger creeping into her voice now, "She took me in off the streets, fed me, cared for me, even trained me, she wouldn't go that far." "You really are a fantastic liar," said Wayne, trying to sound smug, "But you shouldn't lie to yourself too, 'cause I can take one look around right now and tell you exactly how far she's willing to go, and let me tell you, she'd probably have no problem stepping over one more dead body, enemy or comrade, if it meant she could fulfill her goal, so I'll ask you one more time: 'what will you do when it's your turn?'"

Emerald stood silent for a moment, then, ignoring the pounding ache in her head, she put all of her concentration into her semblance, creating several fake copies of herself to surround Wayne. "You don't know a thing about Cinder!" exclaimed Emerald as some of her copies started attacking Wayne, while others stood back and continued to relay her words.

"She could've chosen anyone, ANYONE, to be her apprentice but she chose me, trusted me," Wayne was backed further and further towards one of the dorm buildings as he continued to dodge the clones, "And above all she put her faith in me, and that's why I will do whatever I have to, for her!" In another moment, Wayne raised up his sickles to block, revealing an opening for Emerald as she slashed Wayne across the chest where his heart would be and then kicked him in the stomach, sending him crashing through the window. Sorry Wayne, thought Emerald, I may like you more than the rest of these morons, but you don't mean near as much to me as Cinder, and that's why I'm gonna finish this.

Ouch, thought Wayne as he slowly got up, looking around the room. He'd been knocked into the school library, or what was left of it. Even despite everything that had happened up to this point, Wayne still couldn't quite believe the state of the library. Books, shelves, and furniture were strewn about everywhere and scorch marks were on the floor and walls. That was too close, thought Wayne as he examined the slash mark on his shirt where Emerald had cut it, all that goading did trick her into extending her semblance, but if I hadn't leaned back when I did she would've drawn a lot of blood, and my aura's too weak right now for a lot of serious defense or healing.

Wayne started making his way deeper into the library, knowing full well Emerald could be right behind him as he tried thinking up a plan. She won't stop until one of us is taken out, thought Wayne, but if her aura is in a similar condition to mine then one good shot should at least knock her out. Wayne stopped and rested with his back to the wall for a moment as he went over all the options in his head, but could only think of one that might work.

I can safely use one more charged burst of my semblance, thought Wayne, anymore and I'll be too exhausted to fight, heck too much more and I won't hardly be able to run around. Wayne's attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of footsteps as he aimed his weapon at the approaching figure.

"Woah, easy there it's me bro," said the figure. "Aegis," said Wayne, mildly surprised, "I guess you managed to kick happy feet's # ## then?" "It was a tough fight but I was tougher," replied Aegis with a smug grin, "prick still got away though." "Well Emerald's still around," said Wayne, "and she can generate illusions so be careful."

"You sure she didn't just up and leave," asked Aegis, "I mean Cinder is probably long gone right now." "No she's still here," replied Wayne, "She could've left at any time when this thing started but for some reason she stayed, and as long as she's here Emerald will fight to keep us away from her."

"Well she is devoted I guess," said Aegis. "Yeah," Wayne chuckled a bit, "She's totally devoted to Cinder, and the funny thing is she thinks I don't understand, but really I get it." "You what," asked Aegis, oddly surprised.

"If I thought I had too, if it meant I could help my friends and family, I'd do all manner of terrible things," said Wayne, "Heck, if it meant their safety and happiness, I'd even overthrow a kingdom." "Where's uh, where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Asked Aegis.

"Because I don't think she actually wants this," replied Wayne, "When I snuck up on the roof to hit them from behind, she sounded sad, I think the only reason she's doing any of this is because it's what Cinder wants." Aegis remained silent for a moment before speaking again.

"That is a lot of assumptions to make Wayne," said Aegis, "And if I didn't know better it sounds like you feel sorry for her." "Well that's the thing," replied Wayne as he shifted his right weapon to sickle form and looked at his reflection in the blade, "I don't think Cinder would do the same for her, so I guess I really do feel sorry for you, and for this."

Wayne jabbed the back end of his weapon into Aegis's stomach, causing his image to flicker like a bad light as he let out the blast he'd charged up. As his attack impacted, Aegis's body faded completely, revealing Emerald as she went flying backwards, stopping only after busting through the library wall. Wayne collapsed to one knee, doing everything he could to catch his breath as he stared at the pile of rubble Emerald was half-covered in.

"Sorry Emerald," said Wayne after a few moments of labored breathing, "But I've got to stop Cinder before she hurts anymore of my friends." "How did you know it was me?" The barely conscious Emerald groaned as Wayne, with some effort, stood back up. "I told you, I rarely forget a friend's scent once I commit it to memory," replied Wayne as he started walking away, "And for a short time I considered you as more than that."

 **And so ends the fated fight between Wayne and Emerald, for now anyway. But as you all know, it's not over just yet. Stop in again and see the true tolls of the invasion and the second fateful decision of Drake Beller, one which will change his life forever. And as we reach over 4,500 views, all I can say is thank you again to my reviewers, followers and viewers. I hope you've enjoyed the story thus far. 'Til next time.**


	36. Chaos, Casualties, and Choices

**Chaos, Casualties, and Choices**

The Destroyed Beacon Courtyard

A good bit of the fighting's died down, Wayne noticed as he approached the courtyard following Cinder's scent, much more slowly now due to his exhaustion. Although, that giant dragon Grimm circling the school might have something to do with it. As Wayne entered the courtyard, he saw his friends still fighting what was left of the Atlas androids and Grimm. They're holding out so far, thought Wayne, but those Atlesian paladins are starting to force them back.

As Wayne continued to make his way towards the courtyard, he noticed how truly exhausted everyone else was when both Ren and Nora were knocked aside by one of the paladins. Not good, thought Wayne as he picked up his pace a little, I have to get to them. As Wayne approached, the wall to one of the dorms exploded behind him. Wayne turned around with his weapons trained on the hole as the dust settled to reveal a battle-damaged, and very angry, Aegis Ursario. He's in rage mode, Wayne thought, he must of used it to fend off Mercury, but now he's gonna have trouble knowing friend from foe.

"Aegis," said Wayne, drawing Aegis's now red eyes towards him. "It's me your big bro," said Wayne as he risked a glance back towards the other fight, noting that Velvet was fighting both mechs now. Be careful girl, he thought as he turned back to his enraged brother.

"I know you want to kill anything that moves right now, but we don't need that, we just need you Aegis," Wayne said, trying not to sound nervous. Aegis started growling as he stepped towards Wayne, forming blackened ax blades on his weapon.

"I don't want to fight you Aegis," said Wayne as he backed up a step, "You can control this, just like Mom did, just like Grandmother did." Aegis continued stepping slowly towards Wayne, only answering his words with more angry growls. What do I do, thought Wayne, I'm practically out of options unless. Wayne racked his brain for every possible option but could only come up with one.

"Sorry Dad," said Wayne as he switched both weapons to sickles and began concentrating. A sudden quaking noise drew Aegis's attention as the most advanced paladin mech Wayne had seen yet rounded the corner. It was larger than the other mechs and had a head shaped like a serpent's pointed downward with two intimidating red eyes.

"You have got to be kidding me," Wayne's enhanced hearing picked up Sun's frustrated statement as the paladin began rumbling towards the rest of his friends. Aegis suddenly roared and leaped at the paladin, his black ax blades suddenly bursting with energy dust. That's right, Wayne remembered now, a consequence of the uncontrolled rage mode is seeking out the biggest threat and taking it out, regardless of the user's physical state. Wayne looked over at his exhausted and wounded friends, then back at his rage fueled brother as he clashed with the paladin.

I don't want them to get hurt, he thought as he allowed his anger to build, I won't allow them to get hurt. Wayne's thoughts grew more erratic as his anger built, and the more it did the less tired he felt and the less his injuries hurt. Before he knew it he was charging at the paladin too, joining his weapons into their blade staff form as he charged his semblance, completely ignoring his exhaustion or the fact that his body had started generating a strange black mist which clung to him like an aura.

With an animalistic roar of his own, Wayne leaped at the paladin who failed to notice his charge due to Aegis's ferocious attacks. As Wayne jammed the blade of his weapon into the paladin, he released his semblance in a large burst of energy which sent the paladin sliding back several feet.

"Come on!" yelled Wayne as he swung his weapon menacingly, his voice dripping with an unusual amount of venom, "I'm having a really bad day and I need something to turn into molten slag!" The paladin responded by charging at them again. Wayne and Aegis stood unafraid of its charge as anger and rage blinded them to anything else happening around them now, except for the charging paladin. Just as the paladin was right on top of them, it suddenly lost power and collapsed, causing the ground to rumble as it slid along the path, stopping just a couple of feet from Wayne and Aegis.

"Well that was a letdown," said Aegis, the surprise of the paladin's fall finally returning to his normal state. "Ah, would've just been another big mess any-," A sudden jolt of pain racked Wayne's body as he stumbled over onto both knees, dropping his weapon next to him as the black mist around his body faded with his anger.

"Wayne?" Asked Aegis, concern evident in his voice. "I'm okay," coughed Wayne as he yanked his helmet off of his head, "Just overused my semblance a bit." "Wayne!" exclaimed Velvet as she, Coco and a few of their other friends who could still move around ran over to them. "Are you both alright?" asked Velvet.

"Mostly," replied Aegis as he collapsed down on the ground, his breathing labored. "We're just having a heck of a day, like everyone else," Wayne said as he tried to catch his breath. "How hard did you guys hit that thing?" asked Coco as she examined the remains of the advanced paladin. "I don't think it was us," said Wayne, finally managing to catch his breath, "Take a look in the sky, the last airship is down."

"And the rest of the androids have stopped moving," said Neptune. Wayne turned around to face the rest of his friends, noticing that Yang was talking to Weiss. "Is everyone else okay?" asked Wayne.

"Well Blake went after an alpha and Yang's going after her and Ruby was on the airship which crashed, but Weiss will find her once she's recovered a bit," replied Coco, "Everyone else is pretty banged up but we can make it to the air platforms so no need to worry about that." "And Pyrrha and Jaune," asked Aegis, noticing they weren't there.

"They went with Ozpin to do something, so I'm sure they're safe," said Velvet, "Right now I'm more worried about you two, you both disappeared from the fight and then show up again with tattered outfits and some sort of monster forms."

"Long story short," said Wayne, "We found Cinder Fall, the one responsible for this, and she's still out here somewhere." "We can discuss that on the walk to the air platform," said Coco as she slipped Aegis's arm over her shoulders and hauled him up, "And don't think about arguing because you two are hardly in any shape to even be walking, let alone fighting anyone right now." Wayne and Aegis both wanted to protest, but knew Coco's stubborn nature all too well, and that she was right about their physical conditions. Be safe everyone, Wayne thought as they made their way to the platforms.

Just Outside of Beacon Courtyard:

Drake crouched on the roof of a nearby dorm building, surveying the battlefield through his scope while listening to the radio chatter. After another few moments he turned back to May.

"The White Fang are pretty much in full retreat now, seems having a large flying dragon Grimm is a pretty convincing reason for withdrawal," said Drake. "I'm just glad you were able to convince most of them that the order was from the leader," said May, peering through the scope of her rifle, "Adam Taurus was it?"

"Yes," replied Drake, "He's been our leader for some time now, but after today I very much doubt he will be 'my' leader any longer." "I know this isn't the best time," said May, "But what's your plan for when this is over?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead," Replied Drake, "It was a spur of the moment decision to help you, but one which has likely changed my life forever." "Now you're just being dramatic," said May, flashing a quick smirk in his direction before looking back at the field.

"That also reminds me," said Drake, "Thank you again, for trusting me." "Don't get me wrong," said May as she shot down one of the beowolves which had dropped from the dragon Grimm, "I'm still pretty mad at you, and I'm gonna hold you to that promise about telling me everything."

"Fair trade," said Drake as he shot an Ursa in the head. "Hey uh, Drake," said May, "This Taurus guy, does he happen to have a black coat, red hair, and a Grimm mask?" "Yes, why?" Asked Drake. "Because that kind of looks like him in that building over there," Said May.

Drake looked through the scope at the area May was indicating. It was him alright, thought Drake, the man he'd once looked up too, been trained by and even fought beside for an ideal, or what was once an ideal. Looking at him now, even from the distance he was at, Drake could tell that the only expression Adam wore on his face now was one of rage and hatred, the kind of rage and hatred that could blind someone to how much their ideal of justice had been twisted.

But worst of all, he was directing his anger and hatred towards someone else Drake knew, Blake Belladona. "May I'm going to have to go for a bit," said Drake as he stood up and switched his weapon back to its blade form, "You should go meet back up with your team." "Where are you going?" Asked May.

"I can't hit him from here without risking Blake, so I'm going to have to confront an old friend face to face," Replied Drake. "Hey before you go," said May as she took Drake's hand and gave him a piece of paper. "What's this?" Asked Drake. "So you can find me," replied May with a small smile, "Can't have you skipping out on that promise." Drake nodded with a smile of his own as he leaped off of the roof and quickly made his way towards Adam.

Destroyed Beacon Cafeteria

It was a scene which he'd only ever seen in his nightmares, Adam standing over Blake as he stabbed his blade into her side. NO, thought Drake as he ran towards the busted out window. Before he got there, a golden-haired girl Drake knew as one of Blake's teammates leaped into the fray, only to have her right arm severed in an instant as she fell to the ground in defeat. This has to stop, thought Drake as Blake ran in front of the gold-haired girl to protect her, THIS HAS TOO STOP!

Drawing his weapons, Drake activated the ice dust canister on his belt as he used his semblance to cast a large coat of frost over the area where Adam was at. The White Fang leader was caught by surprise as a layer of frost and ice formed over his body. "ENOUGH!" yelled Drake as he swung both weapons at Adam, who managed to block the attacks, but was pushed back by Drake as his movements were slowed by the ice.

Adam recovered quickly, however, and managed to swing back a few times, forcing Drake to retreat. "What do you think you're doing?" Adam asked, both confused and enraged, "The traitor is behind you, why are you attacking me?" "I'm here to protect Blake and her friend," Drake replied.

"You'd protect a traitor, and a human!" Adam seethed. "Blake was like a sister to me before she left," replied Drake, "Only now do I see that I don't really want her hurt?" "She betrayed us, and has even fought against us," said Adam.

"We betrayed her long before she betrayed us," replied Drake, "What's more we betrayed ourselves, with every act of hatred we committed, with every life we took, and every comprise we made with criminals." "Those compromises were necessary for our goals," said Adam, "For igniting the fires of revolution!"

"What revolution!" Exclaimed Drake, "We're attacking a school attended by both humans and Faunus in the middle of a festival with soldiers and Grimm." "Just give it time," said Adam, "You'll see the benefits of this attack soon enough."

"Benefits?" Drake for once in his life, couldn't believe what Adam was saying, "I pulled a Faunus girl out of the wreckage at the fairgrounds, one who was friends with a human, how was she benefitting, how are any of the Faunus who came out here with their friends and families benefitting, they're afraid of us, from what I can see the only one benefitting is that mad woman who thought up this plan in the first place!"

Adam remained quiet for a moment before answering. "You got more sense knocked out of you than I thought," said Adam, "Ever since you're match with the Ursario brothers, well no matter," Adam shook the remainder of the ice off of his coat, "If you won't stand with me, at least you can be useful in death, as part of Blake's torment."

"Drake just go," pleaded Blake as she picked up her weapon. "You know me better than that bell," replied Drake, with an old name he used to call Blake, "I don't like anyone threatening my fellow Faunus." Adam simply scoffed as he sheathed his sword and readied himself. Drake quickly activated earth dust on his belt and used his semblance to create a cloud of raining stones. Adam quickly unsheathed his sword, creating a red wave of energy which cut through the incoming attack like it was nothing. But when the dust cleared, however, Adam saw the three of them heading out of the window, and out of reach. Soon enough, Adam thought as he slashed a Creeper Grimm trying to attack him, you'll all pay soon enough.

Beacon Air Platforms:

It was agonizing, not so much physically, but rather mentally for Wayne to be sitting here just waiting for the rest of his friends to show up, agonizing because even though his injuries had stopped hurting his overuse of his semblance and the use of the black aura technique against the advanced Paladin had left him exhausted to the point that standing and walking was a chore, and fighting was out of the question.

The situation infuriated Wayne even more when an injured Blake had shown up carrying Yang, who'd lost her right arm! The only reason Wayne hadn't rushed off himself to try and deal with the one responsible for the two RWBY member's injuries was the fact that he had to restrain Aegis from doing the same.

"Just let me go," exclaimed Aegis, "I'll rip both of his arms off!" "I'm sure you could," replied Wayne, trying to sound reasonable as he just barely managed to hold Aegis back, "If you were in top form, but the fact of the matter is you aren't, none of us are right now."

"I don't care he needs to pay!" Aegis practically yelled. "Think for two seconds," exclaimed Wayne as he struggled to keep from losing his grip on his younger brother, "I'm holding you back right now and I'm exhausted, if this guy can do that to Yang then the only thing you're going to accomplish by running off right now is getting yourself killed, and believe me Mom, Dad, and most of our friends would never forgive you for just going off and dying, and I'd never forgive myself if I let you."

Aegis opened his mouth to protest, only to close it again as he realized Wayne was right. "Fine, but first chance we get we take the guy down," said Aegis with a large amount of menace in his voice. "Don't worry," replied Wayne barely keeping his own anger out of his voice, "We'll get our chance." Without another word, Aegis went back to sitting down and scanning the area for any signs of trouble.

Wayne sat down as well, trying his best not to fidget as the minutes went by. Finally, a few minutes later, Ruby finally came running down the courtyard path. Weiss quickly welcomed Ruby back, happy to see the hooded girl again but also demanding to know where she'd been. Ruby assured her she was fine and asked what was going on. Weiss didn't answer but instead bowed her head and stood aside to give Ruby a clear view of Yang and Blake. Ruby gasped as she tried to hold back tears at the condition her sister and friend were in, Yang missing an arm and Blake with a wound on her side. Wayne was about to tell Ruby they were okay, but Sun beat him to it.

"She's gonna be okay," said Sun, "The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale." "But what about Jaune and Pyrrha," asked Nora, holding her sides due to the pain of her own injuries, "They're still missing." "What!" Exclaimed Ruby. "Look guys that giant Grimm is circling the school, even the White Fang have pulled out, we have to go now!" said Sun, the urgency plain in his voice.

"We're not leaving-," Ren said as he tried to stand, only to fall back to his knees from the pain of his wounds. "I'll find them," declared Ruby, "And I'll bring them back." "No," said Weiss, "We are going to find them." Ruby hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Watch over Blake and Yang, we'll be back," Said Weiss.

"The tower," said Wayne as he stumbled over to Ruby and Weiss, "Jaune and Pyrrha's scent was strongest going towards the tower, start looking for them there." "Okay, you and everyone else stay safe," said Ruby as she and Weiss headed back towards Beacon. "Idiots," Sun whispered. "They know what they're doing," said Aegis, easily hearing Sun's comment as he also stumbled over to the group, "They'll be alright." "They'd better be," replied Sun as they all watched the red and white figures disappear into the distance.

 **Hello again everyone, sorry for the late update, but family matters come first before anything else. As for the invasion, we'll finally be wrapping it up next chapter as team WA and their friends deal with one more obstacle, as well as the choices they'll need to make in the aftermath. Also, a big thank you to my followers, reviewers, and viewers who continued to stick with this story despite the late update, it gives me the motivation to keep on writing. 'Til next time.**


	37. Departing Home: End of Vol 3

**Departing Home**

Beacon Courtyard:

Well this turned out to be one big mess, thought Exo as he strolled around the Beacon courtyard, slicing through a random Grimm every now and then. The giant flying dragon Grimm perched on the school is awesome and all, but all of our soldiers have retreated, the androids have shutdown, and Drake isn't answering his scroll, not that I care what happens to that panther prick.

Exo continued making his way around the destroyed academy as he thought on what to do next. Personally, thought Exo, I should probably be retreating right now too, but the only other guy I can call to confirm that is Adam Taurus, and that guy has been in a mood all day. Oh well, guess there's not a whole lot of point in putting it off though. As Exo was about to switch his scroll on, he noticed a red figure and a white figure heading towards the school. Hey, he thought as realization struck him, those two are friends with those ##holes the Ursarios, and if they're here then that may mean.

Exo looked back at the path from which they'd come, his Faunus eyes seeing just fine despite the fact that it was night time. Well I'll be, Exo thought with a sinister grin, if it isn't the two half-breeds and they look completely exhausted. Exo checked the store of knives he carried and found that they were low.

No matter, he thought, considering how exhausted they look from this distance I think I can afford to give them a handicap, but first what to do about those two teachers, Mustachio and Caffeine Green. As he thought, more black liquid fell from the dragon Grimm, which in turn became a mix of beowolves and Ursas once the liquid made contact with the ground. That'll work, he thought as he drew his blade and formulated his plan of attack.

Beacon Air Platforms:

Slowly but surely, thought Wayne as he sat and tested his injured limbs while Aegis, having recovered for a bit, was pacing around the platform in front of the airships. "Aegis could you stop pacing for a moment," said Wayne, who had managed to finally stand without feeling like he was about to collapse.

"Sorry I just hate sitting around and waiting," replied Aegis. "I know, but we're going to need at least a full day's recovery before we can even fight normally right now, and that's after our Aura's have fully recharged." "Yeah Fox already ran the numbers for me before he went to the safe zone escorting civilians," said Aegis, "One day to feel normal again, maybe two to three days at least to heal any minor injuries."

"Yep, so for right now we have to try and-oh crap," said Wayne, his eyes widening as he suddenly noticed a large mass of Grimm heading their way. "Uh Professor Port, Professor Uubleck we got a problem!" exclaimed Sun as he also noticed the oncoming swarm of Grimm.

"You kids get to the airships now!" exclaimed Port as he and Uubleck moved to intercept the Grimm, "We'll handle the Grimm." "On it," said Wayne as he picked up Nora bridal style, while Aegis did the same with Yang and Sun did the same with Blake. Velvet, who'd remained behind to help look after the injured put Ren's arm over her shoulder and helped him walk towards the airship.

Aegis was in the lead and got to the airship first with Wayne right behind him. Just as Velvet was getting to the airship, a black blade sailed through the air and landed right behind Sun. "What the," asked a startled Sun as the mercenary Exo suddenly appeared and kicked Sun in the back, causing him to fall forward. Sun managed to spin around and land on his back, breaking Blake's fall as well.

"Oh bear ##, it's Exo, you remember me right," said the mercenary mockingly as he picked up his sword. "You're here too?" Questioned Aegis as he pulled out his weapon and stepped off the airship, trying his best not to look unsteady. "Yes but only me right now," said Exo with some disappointment in his voice as Sun got up off the ground, "Drake was here but I can't seem to get ahold of him, oh well more fun for me."

"I don't think so!" yelled Sun as he swung his staff at Exo, who stepped back once, then twice to avoid the first couple of strikes then blocked the third attack, holding Sun off as he tried to force him back.

"Get Blake on the ship," Sun yelled back as he broke his lock with Exo and swung a few more strikes at Exo, who simply dodged or blocked the incoming blows. "You're a bit too injured to be putting up a serious fight," said Exo as he easily deflected Sun's attacks, "I just came here to beat down the Ursarios, not you."

"I won't let you lay a hand on any of my friends!" declared Sun as he aimed a kick at Exo's head, who blocked it with his fist. "Alright then, tell you what," said Exo as he blocked another couple of attacks, "Since you're all injured I'll give you a handicap, I won't use my semblance," Exo spun around and kicked Sun in the midsection, knocking him over, "It won't be much fun otherwise."

Suddenly Velvet leaped into the fray with a roundhouse kick aimed at Exo's head. "Why are you doing this?" demanded Velvet as she tried a sweeping kick followed up by a few punches, "This is hardly the time for petty revenge."

"For a White Fang employed mercenary," said Exo as he swung his sword at Velvet, who barely dodged it, "This is the perfect time for petty revenge." "So you and Drake are with the White Fang," exclaimed Aegis as he charged at Exo with a horizontal strike with his weapon, which was little more than a steel pole without his semblance.

"That's right," replied Exo as he blocked Aegis's attack with one hand on his sword handle and the other on the flat of his blade, "But I'm not in it for the great Faunus cause like Drake, I just like the cash!" Exo kicked Aegis back as Sun and Velvet both came charging in attacking both high and low. Exo was able to dodge Velvet and block Sun before punching Sun in the face and blocking another one of Velvet's attacks as Aegis came charging back in.

This isn't good, thought Wayne as he picked Blake up bridal style and carried her over to the airship, Blake winced in pain as Wayne set her down. Need to think of something, anything. Wayne pulled out one of his Crescent Fangs but couldn't get a clear shot at Exo with his weapon while three of his friends were trying to take him on, and even if he could, Velvet had just used her box to create holograms of Ren's weapons, Stormflower, but Exo was still in good enough condition to block bullets.

As Wayne watched, Sun was knocked down and would've lost a limb if Velvet hadn't made a blue hologram of Pyrrha's shield and sword to block Exo's blade while Aegis swung at him to drive him back. We're too tired to take him on directly so we need to hit him by surprise, and hard, thought Wayne. That's when Wayne's eyes fell on Nora's weapon.

"Nora," said Wayne, trying to sound apologetic, "I'm gonna need to borrow Magnihild for a moment." "I can take him," Nora said weakly as she tried to stand, but was quickly stopped by Wayne. "I'm sure you could, but right now you need to rest, sorry," replied Wayne as he pulled Nora's grenade launcher off her back. "It's only got three shots in it right now," said Nora groggily.

"More than enough," said Wayne as he looked back and yelled at his friends fighting Exo. "Guys knock him back as far as you can!" yelled Wayne. "We can do that," Aegis yelled back, "Guys big hits." "If you're sure," said Sun as he came in with a wide horizontal strike, which Exo blocked. "Got it," said Velvet as she created a hologram of Yatsuhashi's sword.

"Oh bringin' out the big weapons, now it's a party!" Exo yelled excitedly. Sun swung one more time at Exo, who sidestepped him. But it turned out to be a distraction as he was met by a combined strike from both Velvet and Aegis. Exo just barely managed to block as he was sent flying back. Hope this works, thought Wayne as Exo flipped in midair.

Wayne waited just before Exo was about to hit the ground before firing all three canisters from Magnihild in quick succession. Exo, caught by surprise, only had time to raise his sword up as he was struck by the first, second, then third canister, with each explosion knocking him further back until he was sent to the ground, rolling several feet away.

"Nice shootin' Wayne," said Aegis over his shoulder as he and the others backed towards the airship. "I just can't believe it worked," replied Wayne as he handed Nora's weapon back to her. "Okay," said Exo suddenly as he slowly stood back up, "Now I'm both impressed and incredibly pissed."

"Uh here," said Nora as she quickly reloaded her weapon, "You still need this." "Yeaaaah," said Wayne as he accepted the weapon without looking down at Nora. "It's been fun," said Exo as he advanced towards them, "But the Grimm I led over here are about finished off so I need to wrap this up." As everyone stood ready, a roar suddenly drew their attention as the dragon Grimm left the tower, flew back around and charged at the tower, crushing the middle section and knocking the whole top section down. Rubble rained down in all directions, some of it coming close to the air platforms.

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Exo as he dove to avoid a few large pieces of rubble landing around him. Everyone else quickly moved backwards towards the ship as a large amount of dust was kicked up. "Do you think the rubble got 'em," asked Sun. "My day was going so well up to this point," said Exo as he cut some of the rubble in front of him into pieces.

"That'd be a no Sun," said Aegis. "Now where were we," asked Exo, frustration in his voice now. Wayne looked around as Exo approached again, noting that Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck had just finished off the Grimm. If we can hold him off long enough for them to get over here, thought Wayne as he pointed Nora's weapon at the White Fang mercenary.

With a bone chilling howl, Exo charged towards them, his sword creating sparks as it was drug across the ground. He's moving too fast, thought Wayne as he tried aiming at the quickly advancing mercenary, Port and Oobleck won't get here in time. Just as Exo came into firing range, a massive tower of light erupted from the remains of Beacon tower and grew brighter and brighter until it was impossible to keep their eyes open. "Oh # ## this," said Exo in frustration. What's going on thought Wayne as he was forced to shut his eyes, what's happening?

A few hours later, Vale airspace:

Wayne sat on the airship, quickly checking his messages before returning his scroll to his coat pocket, or rather what was left of his coat. Between the Grimm, the androids, and Emerald Wayne's coat had sustained a couple of large holes, and several few small tears. Aegis's armor was in a similar condition with several scratches and a few holes in his under suit.

Both brothers remained relatively quiet with Aegis seething in silence while Wayne continued to go over in his head what happened after the light from the tower faded. Whatever that light was, it had frozen the dragon Grimm and scared Exo off, who'd used his semblance to teleport away, thinking the light might be an explosion of some sort. Shortly after that, Qrow arrived and helped them find Ruby and Weiss.

Ruby had been found unconscious and still hadn't woken up, Weiss was simply exhausted but otherwise okay, or at least she was until they discovered Pyrrha, or rather what was left of Pyrrha, her crown. Wayne and Aegis had sniffed the area over and over again, but always came up with the same thing. Pyrrha's scent stopped there, at a pile of ash. No one wanted to believe it, but the truth was undeniable, Pyrrha was gone. As for the ones responsible: Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, Adam, all of them had escaped. If he hadn't been so angry he would've been shedding tears, more tears than he'd ever shed in his life, heck, he'd definitely be shedding tears later.

After finding Pyrrha's remains, they took a shuttle to the safe zone which had been established in Vale where they met their parents who'd been called to fight in the city. As soon as they arrived, Blake ran, to where no one knew, but Sun saw her go, but they didn't have time enough to worry because shortly after Blake left, Weiss's father showed up on his airship to take Weiss back.

Everyone wanted to protest, but most everyone was too tired or too injured to really do anything about it, save for Aegis, the last person one would expect to not want Weiss to go. In fact if it hadn't been for their Mom and Dad, Aegis would've broken even more androids in his attempt to keep Weiss from leaving. But in the end, their mother and father managed to hold Aegis back and convince him that he would see his friend again soon.

Finally, Aegis relented, though not without some choice words under his breath, as they watched Weiss step on her father's ship and fly away towards Atlas. After that, the only thing they could do was bid farewell to their friends as they all went their separate ways, to their separate homes.

Aboard the airship to their home, Wayne sighed with a mix of anger and sadness as he pulled out his scroll one more time, this time accessing the picture section. It's all gone, thought Wayne, the place where we met our best friends. Wayne scrolled through the numerous pictures he'd taken throughout the year, finally landing on a large group photo they had taken after the Breach incident, looking at everyone's smiling faces. This isn't over, thought Wayne as he switched his scroll off, if there's a way to stop you Cinder Fall we will find it, one way or another.

A few Days Later, Wayne and Aegis's home, the town of Blue Forge:

Wayne stood at the training area, breathing hard as he surveyed the results of the latest form of his semblance. "Not a bad start," said an Old man behind Wayne with short grey hair, dressed in brown combat boots, faded blue pants and an old brown coat with a faded wolf symbol and a pair of shoulder pauldrons. A modified crossbow hung from his back.

"You managed to melt a fair-sized hole in the iron, but you're gonna need to focus the energy even more," said the old man. "Any other advice," asked Wayne as he tried to gather more energy for his semblance, but discovered he didn't have enough to use the new form.

"Well like I've been saying the past few days, don't push yourself too hard, it won't help you much if you collapse and have to recover every day," the man replied. "Sure thing Grandpa," said Wayne as he sat down for a break. Wayne and Aegis's Grandfather had been helping oversee the next stage of their training whenever their parents had to be away from home, which had been happening a lot recently thanks to numerous requests for skilled huntsmen and huntresses, both active and retired, to help fend off Grimm from nearby villages and towns.

"Aegis," said their Grandfather, "Now's as good a time as any for lunch so why not take a break for now." "If you insist," said Aegis as he allowed the black glass he'd formed to dissipate before heading in.

"Grandfather before we go in there's something I'd like to ask," Said Wayne. "If you're calling me Grandfather then it must be serious," he replied. "The technique you tried teaching me once," said Wayne, "I was able to sustain it for a short time during the attack on Beacon." "You mean you actually used it?" Asked his Grandfather, clearly surprised.

"Yes and now I'm asking for your help to master it," said Wayne, a serious tone in his voice. "You remember why you stopped wanting to learn it before," said his Grandfather, "And you know your father will not be happy about it." "I know," replied Wayne, "But I can't be afraid of my own power anymore, if we're going to stop Cinder I need to become as strong as possible."

"So even despite the risks," said his Grandfather, "You'd be willing to learn the rest of the technique?" "You know me," said Wayne, "If it's to protect family and friends, I'm more than willing to risk my sanity and my life, so I'm asking you once more, teach me the final steps to the Aura Shadow." His Grandfather remained silent for a moment before giving Wayne his answer.

A few months later:

Wayne had hardly believed it when he got the message a couple months ago, Ruby was awake and was doing well. But what Wayne found more unbelievable was what he was doing now, as he finished packing his bags before stepping out to where the family kept their motorcycles in his full combat gear.

"You know if Mom and Dad catch up to us, they're gonna kick our # # # ?" said Aegis as he stepped out with his own bag of essentials on his back. "If you're so worried about that, stay here," Replied Wayne as he swung his leg over his bike and put the kick stand up.

"Heh, and miss this," said Aegis with a smirk on his face as he seated himself on his own motorcycle. "Just remember what Ruby said in the messages she sent us, we're heading to Haven but if we can meet up with them before then that's good too," Said Wayne.

"It'll be good to see them again either way," said Aegis as the two brothers started their bikes. "Alright," said Wayne, "Let's go hunt down some monsters." With that final statement, the two brothers gunned their engines and raced off towards Haven and whatever challenges awaited them.

End of Volume 3

 **At last we have arrived at the end of the volume, it took a lot of time but here we are. For those of you who have stuck with me this far, I'd like to say thanks, it's because of you all that I've posted so much of this story. For those of you wondering, I am working on a volume four for this story, so don't count it out just yet. Once again, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers. 'Til next time.**


	38. Mistral: The New Stomping Grounds

**Mistral: The New Stomping Grounds**

Team WA Volume 4: Journey Through Mistral

The Grimmscape

A foul presence fell over this land, a land of jagged rocks, purple crystals, dried and cracked soil, and curious black pools which resembled tar pits. But these pools did not hold tar, but the essence of Grimm. If one waited long enough, they would be greeted by the sight which was currently being witnessed by a green-haired girl and silver-haired boy, the sight of Grimm emerging from the black pools.

Emerald and Mercury looked on in horror and disgust from the window of a large castle made of the same jagged stone which characterized the rest of the landscape. The snap of Cinder's fingers drew their attention as they looked over towards where their mistress sat, a large table made of the same purple crystal as could be found in the landscape.

The rest of the room was surrounded by several large windows, and several more glowing purple crystals, some of which had candles on them, that cast a purple glow around the room. The two quickly made their way over to where Cinder sat, in a large chair made of jagged, bone-like tusks, with Emerald shoving Mercury aside to be next to Cinder, who was now wearing a red robe-like outfit with gold trim, one long sleeve, two elbow length gloves, and an eye-patch which covered her left eye and part of the large scar which was now on her face. Her hair had been cut to neck length as well.

"Ah yes, do keep your, ahem, posse in check," said a mustached man sitting across from Cinder with graying hair around his temples, a red and yellow Victorian-era suit with a tie, and a gray coat with yellow-lining and a pair of fingerless glove.

An infuriated Mercury tried making a move but was stopped by Emerald who held up her arm to block him, knowing full well the consequences if Mercury tried something.

"You hear that," said the mustached man, "Silence, I have half the mind to thank the little girl that bested you."

Suddenly a throwing knife with a rune on the blade embedded itself in the table in front of the mustached man. In another instant, a wolf Faunus appeared, crouching on the table with a black sword on his back, who kicked the mustached man in the face, knocking him over and out of his chair.

"You insolent animal!" exclaimed the mustached man as he quickly got up from the floor, rubbing his nose. "I don't appreciate you bad-mouthing my boss, Watty," said the Faunus, as he pulled his knife out of the table, "I mean seriously, insulting someone who can't even talk back, and you call yourself a man."

"I've told you before mercenary, it is DR. WATTS," said the mustached man as he stepped closer, clenching his fists, "And we all share the same rank at this table, meaning you serve all of us!"

"Exo just leave it," said Mercury, trying to reason with the wolf Faunus. "Sorry Merc," said Exo as he rose to a fighting stance and gripped the handle of his sword, "But I think this guy needs to know that the names on my checks read Adam Taurus and Cinder Fall, and that I wouldn't work for his sorry # # if he paid me double what I'm getting now!"

"Ohhh," said one of the other occupants sitting at the table, a man with a long pony tail, a vest which revealed the scars on his stomach, white pants, brown boots, multiple belts around his waist, and a pair of bladed gauntlets on his wrist, "carve out his eye and give it to Cinder she'd like that."

"You're incourageable Tyrian," said Watts, "If anyone's dying it will be this pathetic-." A loud sound, caused by the large wooden doors at the entrance of the room drew everyone's attention. In another moment, the doors flung open, causing everyone to stand from their seats as a woman with chalk white skin, black veins on her face, a black diamond on her forehead, white hair done up in a large bun with several smaller buns sticking out on the lower parts of her hair.

The woman also wore a long black dress which reached down to the floor and hid the woman's feet, making it seem as if she was hovering across the floor, while a long black cape with three decorative eyes which hung off her back and arms, completed her wardrobe. But the most menacing aspect of the woman, as she made her way to the other side of the room to stop at a candle-lit altar, were her red and black eyes, the kind of eyes that haunted ones nightmares.

Exo, hopped of the table, keeping his distance as the woman crossed the room, not casting her gaze upon anyone until she stopped in front of an altar made of more of the purple crystal decorated with several candles. "Watts," said the woman, in a surprisingly human-like tone, "Do you find such malignance necessary?"

"I apologize mam," said Watts respectfully as everyone, save for Exo, Emerald, and Mercury took their seats, "I'm not terribly fond of failure, or of disloyal servants." "Then I see no reason for your attitude towards young Cinder," said the woman, "She has become our fall maiden, destroyed Beacon tower, and most importantly of all, killed dear old Ozpin, and as for our mercenary," the woman turned her gaze on Exo, causing him to shift a little uncomfortably despite himself as he twirled one of his knives, "He aided young Cinder and her compatriots in escaping Vale, provided us with continued information from the underworld now that Torchwick is gone, and has continued to do everything asked of him since arriving here, in fact I believe his outburst earlier could easily be interpreted as a sign of loyalty."

"It's just personal preference," said Exo, still avoiding eye contact with the witch, "I may be a mercenary, but I got standards that Doctor Dick over here doesn't fill." Watts glared at Exo but said nothing.

"So I am curious Watts," said the chalk-skinned woman, "Which failure or disloyalty do you speak of?" "Well, the uh, girl with the silver eyes," responded Watts. "We've dealt with them before," said the only person at the table who hadn't spoken yet, a large man with long hair, a beard, and brown eyes, wearing a green coat with gold trimming, black on the arms, a brown belt, and a tunic underneath. "How is it a novice was able to best one of us?" asked the man.

"My thoughts exactly," said Watts, "It should have been effortless, even without her new power." "It is because of the maiden's power," said the chalk-skinned woman, "You are the key to our victory Cinder, but your newfound strength comes with a crippling weakness, which is why you will remain here while we continue your treatment."

Cinder could only hold her head low in frustration as the woman continued. "Dr. Watts, you will take Cinder's place and meet our informant in Mistral," said the woman. "Very good," replied Watts. "Tyrian I want you to continue your hunt for the spring maiden," said the woman, indicating the man with the pony tail.

"Gladly," responded Tyrian with an ominous chuckle. "Hazel, I'm sending you to the leader of the White Fang, Adam Taurus has arranged the meeting," said the woman, eliciting a nod from the man in the green coat, "Taurus continues to prove loyal, insure Sienna Kahn feels the same." "As you wish," said Hazel.

Cinder raised her hand, getting Emerald's attention as she leaned down to hear what Cinder had to say. After another moment, Emerald stood back up nervously. "Speak child," said the woman. "Well, she wants to know," stammered Emerald, "What about the girl?" "What about her," said Watts dismissively, "This seems like her problem, not ours."

Cinder slammed her fist on the table angrily at Watt's comment as the doctor smiled smugly, before another throwing knife embedded itself next to Watt's head. "Whoops sorry," said Exo in a mock apologetic tone, "Butterfingers today, but you know, my problem not yours."

"Enough," said the woman before Watts could respond. "Tyrian," said the woman turning to the insane man after a moment of thought. "Yes my lady," replied Tyrian. "Spring can wait, find me the girl," Tyrian was ecstatic for a moment as he laughed happily while the woman continued speaking, "And bring her to me." Tyrian's good mood suddenly vanished as he realized he wouldn't get to kill anyone, but he regained his composure as he nodded in understanding. "Thanks to your efforts Beacon has fallen," said the woman, "and Haven will be next."

A Little While Later

"I swear some of those guys get more insane every day," said Exo, as he, Mercury, and Emerald made their way down one of the castles many dimly lit hallways as Tyrian's laughter echoed after them. "You should talk," said Emerald, "Kicking Watts in the face, you should be glad you're not dead right now." "Like I said, standards, Cinder's my client," said Exo, "And if I just let anyone insult my clients it reflects a bit badly on me as a mercenary, some people might get the idea that I don't take care of my customers."

"Yeah my Dad used to say stuff like that too," said Mercury, "and guess what he's dead." "Yeah I got it," said Exo, "But fortunately for all of us I got another job right now, so that means I get to leave this creepy castle for a bit." "Where are you off too in such a rush," asked Emerald.

"Adam's given me a new job, now that Drake's gone MIA, he's tasked me with hunting down any other known or suspected traitors in the White Fang, so I get to hunt down my old partner," said Exo. "Maybe you could drag him back here," said Mercury, "I need something living to hit for a change." "You two should just get a room," said Emerald as she started walking faster.

"Oh but you two should be happy," said Exo. "Why's that," asked Emerald. "Because while I'm out, I'll also be looking for any of those students who tried to ruin our plans at Beacon, including a pair of troublesome brothers." "Oh yeah, those guys," said Mercury, rubbing his head as he remembered some of the pain, "That Aegis guy does hit hard."

"What does a mercenary like you have against Wayne and Aegis?" asked Emerald. "I mean, you two should already be angry because they managed to beat you, even if just barely, but they managed to beat me once and out maneuver me a second time," said Exo as he pulled out one of his knives and gazed at the reflection, "So what else can I say, other than payback is gonna be a # # ."

The Kingdom of Mistral: Local Village

A silent wind blew tonight outside of a small village, one which at this moment, didn't have a soul out on the street, save for a large lone figure in a green poncho circling around the village border, eyes searching and ears straining for anything even slightly abnormal. As the figure walked, they looked up at one of the larger tree-covered hills for a moment, before nodding and continuing on.

As the figure walked, a growl suddenly drew his attention as he stopped to listen. Other growls joined in as one, then another, and another beowolf came stalking out of the bushes towards the figure until at least a dozen or more began to surround the figure. The figure observed the Grimm for a few moments, noting that these beowolves looked larger and even more bestial than the ones he'd seen before.

As the beowolves stalked even closer towards the figure, he made no move to run, only stood there and smiled as the first beowolf pounced, barring its fangs and claws as it let out a vicious snarl. Try this, thought the figure as a spiked glove made of glass materialized on his right fist.

With a single powerful swing, the figure dug the claws into the pouncing beowolves head and shattered the glass glove, the force of the impact creating a crater in the ground and instantly killing the beowolf. The other Grimm roared in anger as they began leaping at the figure, who formed a pair of spiked glass gloves on both hands and knocked away one beowolf after another until the gloves broke again.

As the brawl continues, one beowolf is lucky enough to sink its fangs into the figures left shoulder, or rather, a glass shoulder pad the figure had created. "What's a matter," asked the figure as he reached behind his back and grasped a pole-like weapon, "you don't like hard food?"

The figure quickly spun a cylinder on the weapon, hitting ice dust as it forms a large blade similar to a naginata which pierces straight through the beowolf's head. The corpse of the Grimm slides off, pulling the poncho with it as the figure is revealed to wear armor similar to a centurion with large boots, leather shoulder pads, and a combat belt similar to samurai armor.

But the most striking feature of the figure, is his head which is uncovered with his hair tied in the shape of a wolf's tail and two bear ears sticking out of his head. "Come on I know there are more of ya," he said loudly, his voice echoing through the forest. As if in answer to his comment, even more beowolves came crawling out of the bushes, their tempers roused at the sight of their fallen brethren as they charged towards the stranger with the bear ears.

They never made it, however, as a black and blue sickle attached to a near invisible wire came swinging down from one of the many trees, decapitating several of the charging beowolves as a new figure leaped into the fray, this one wearing a bluish gray coat with a faded bear symbol, a large flap of white fur which ran around the shoulders and the back of the neck, and several stitched up places where the coat had been damaged in combat.

The rest of this new figure's outfit was a pair of black pants, boots with metal bear claw symbols on the toes, a utility belt lined with dust rounds and other supplies, a pair of gloves with wolf claw symbols, and a wolf mask with complementing colors which covered nearly his whole head.

"What kept ya Wayne," he asked as Wayne landed right next to him. "Oh you know Aegis," replied Wayne as he fired his other weapon in its SMG form at several of the charging beowolves, "just taking out stragglers." "Geez, how many were there," asked Aegis as he reformed his glass blade into a spear point and stabbed it into the mouth of a charging Grimm. "Fifteen or so," said Wayne as he decapitated another Grimm and kicked its head into a small Nevermore flying overhead.

"Must've been a mess," said Aegis as he threw the dead body of the beowolf he impaled into another two beowolves. "It was a surprise," Wayne said as he created a large blue energy ring which he threw into the pile of Grimm, slicing through all three of them, "Which reminds me, we got one more problem."

"What kind of problem?" Asked Aegis. As if in answer to his question, another roar sounded from the forest as an even larger Grimm resembling a huge gorilla with bony plates covering its chest and arms. "The Beringel kind," said Wayne as the Grimm beat its chest before charging the two brothers.

Responding quickly, Wayne switched both weapons to SMG form and fired at the charging Grimm, while Aegis fired a large number of glass shards at the Grimm. The Beringel raised its arms in front of its face, deflecting the shots as it quickly closed the distance between it and the two brothers. Aegis spun the cylinder on his weapon, forming a stone hammer which he used to block the Beringel's fist, causing it to roar in pain as Wayne jumped to its right side, slashing at the Grimm's legs with his weapons.

Wayne slashed several times, but failed to cut the Grimm's skin as the Beringel quickly turned and tried to swat Wayne aside. Wayne managed to raise his hands to block the blow in time, but he was still sent flying backwards as the Beringel turned its attention back to Aegis with another punch, which Aegis blocked. Wayne, still in midair, attached his weapon to his wrist wire and tossed it at the Grimm.

The wire wrapped around the Beringel's neck as Wayne's momentum pulled its head back. The surprised Grimm reached for its neck to undo the wire as Wayne reeled back in and Aegis slammed his weapon into its chest, causing the Grimm to roar in pain as Wayne came flying back delivering a semblance charged fist to the back of its head. Aegis moved out of the way as the Grimm went rolling forward. Wayne managed to untangle his wire from the Grimm's neck as he reeled his weapon back in, regrouping with Aegis a few feet from the Grimm.

"It's got tough skin," said Wayne as the Beringel got back on its feet. "Wanna try that new trick of yours?" Asked Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon to fire. "If you can buy me a little bit of time," said Wayne as the Beringel charged. "I'll buy you more than a little," said Aegis as he formed a flaming sword blade around his weapon and charged the Beringel. Aegis' weapon clashed with the Beringel's fist as he parried blow after blow, enraging the Grimm further and further with each hit.

Okay, just focus, thought Wayne as he put his right weapon up and started focusing and shaping the energy in his hand, not just force but piercing damage as well. In another moment, a javelin-like shape of energy formed in Wayne's hand as he aimed it carefully. "Ready Aegis," asked Wayne as Aegis held back the Beringel. "Bear ducking down," said Aegis as he jumped back, ducking his head as the Beringel leaped after him. "Catch this," said Wayne as he sent the new attack sailing through the air and straight into where the Beringel's heart would've been, if it had one.

The Grimm gave a dying roar as Aegis spun his cylinder to energy and formed a white, glowing ax blade and sliced the Grimm's head off as its body feel to the ground, dead before it even hit the dirt. "A little close to my head there," said Aegis as he shut off the fire dust on his weapon. "I was aiming for the spot between your bear ears," said Wayne as he pulled his right weapon back out, "Guess I missed."

"Well how about next time I throw a spear between your ears," said Aegis as they surveyed the rest of the village for any remaining Grimm. "I don't have bear ears remember little bro," said Wayne. "I'd figure out a way to make it work," said Aegis, "you got regular ears right?" Wayne simply rolled his eyes before speaking. "Let's just take care of any other Grimm," said Wayne, "Who knows, you might get your chance to throw a spear before the night's over."

A roar from another couple of Grimm drew their attention as they spotted some Nevermores and Creepers coming their way. "Guess that means it's back to work," said Wayne as the readied his weapons. "This is gonna be a long night," said Aegis as the two brothers charged at the remaining Grimm. The remainder of that night was filled with the sound of dying Grimm.

 **So it begins, volume 4 of team WA's adventures as they make their way towards Haven Academy to reunite with their friends and confront Cinder and her allies. But now, the two brothers find themselves almost completely alone and being directly targeted by some of their enemies elite fighters who will stop at nothing to see team WA dead. To survive, Wayne and Aegis may have to form some unlikely partnerships as their enemies close in all around them.**

 **And thank you to all of my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've continued reading this story and brought us to a milestone of over 5,000 views. So thank you all once again, and if anyone has any suggestions for how to improve my writing or this story, just send me a message or two. 'Til next time.**


	39. Once More, To The Hunt

**Once More, To The Hunt**

The Morning: Same Local Village

"I tell ya last night kicked my # #," said Aegis, messing with his hair as he and Wayne walked around the village, which had become far more lively as people now happily strolled the streets, some of whom waved happily at the two brothers. "I still can't believe you let your hair grow out enough for a pony tail," said Wayne as they turned a corner. "For the last time it's a warriors wolf tail," said Aegis as he finished adjusting his hair, "And you should talk, considering you let your hair grow out a little too."

"I only let my hair grow out because I'm no good at cutting my own hair," replied Wayne, "And I did get my hair cut at one of the last villages we visited." "Yeah that was, what, a month ago," said Aegis, "And if we're complaining about appearances, I still think you should've gone with a better coat than that stitched up patchwork you got there." "Unlike you I was going for discrete," Wayne said, "Ordinarily you don't expect much trouble from a guy in an old looking coat, and you certainly wouldn't expect a coat reinforced with dust."

"The armor's more discrete than my last set, thank you," said Aegis as he accepted some rolls from a vendor offering them on the house for their work, "And with more Grimm running amok, it means more soldiers and huntsman running around, so most people won't spare a second glance at another guy in armor." "Fair enough," said Wayne, "But I still bet Mom makes you cut that pony tail next time we see her."

"You're on," said Aegis, "If she does, I give Blake, Weiss, Yang, and Coco a hug and tell them how much I 'wove' them." "And if she doesn't," asked Wayne. Aegis looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm, you ask a girl out on a date," said Aegis. "That's a steep one," said Wayne, "But I have a good feeling about my odds, so deal." The two brothers shook hands as they continued their walk to the home of the village chief. "Oh and it's a WOLF TAIL!"

"Ah, the two huntsman brothers," said the village chief, a man with a large beard, a bald head and wearing simple green robes. "As I've said, we're not officially huntsman yet," said Wayne. "Hey I still like the sound of it," said Aegis, "Aegis the huntsman."

"Well official or not, you've done an incredible job clearing out the Grimm that were attacking the villagers, especially that Old Beringel," said the Village Chief. "Older Grimm are tougher, but fortunately it wasn't old enough to have much intelligence," said Wayne. "We even managed to get a full shipment of supplies through this month, are you sure you're fine with the original arrangement?" Asked the Village Chief.

"You've already helped us greatly by letting us stay here for a few weeks while you fixed up our bikes and weapons," said Wayne. "And all the food was pretty good too," said Aegis as he pulled out some more of the rolls he'd gotten from the vendor. "It's only because of you two that we were even able to get the parts for your vehicles in the first place," stated the village chief, "The concentration of Grimm near the village almost forced us to close our main trade route, I don't even want to think how long it would've taken to establish a new one."

"Well now you won't have too," said Wayne. "And speaking of parts," said Aegis, "What's the progress on our bikes?" "The bikes should've been ready earlier this morning," said the village chief, "And I believe our resident weapon smith should be just about finished modifying your weapons." "Well then we'd best be on our way," said Wayne.

"And I wish a safe journey to the both of you," said the Village chief. "And a good luck to you with, uh, the village," said Aegis as he and Wayne began their trek over to where their bikes were housed.

Village Entrance: Some Time Later

"They sure did a heck of a job on the bikes," Yelled Aegis as they started the engines on their motorcycles. "Considering the damage the Grimm did to them before we got here," said Wayne, "I was wondering if they'd ever run again." "Well it gives Ruby and the others time to catch up to us," said Aegis, "Why didn't they take their own bikes again?"

"Well besides the whole trying to keep a low profile thing, the difficulty in inter-kingdom travel, and most importantly, Ruby doesn't know how to drive one remember," Wayne replied, "And I don't even wanna think about the demolition that would ensue if Nora was on one." "Yeah, good point," Aegis yelled as he revved his bike's engine, "But we got 'em working now, so let's ride." Without another word, Aegis gunned the engine on his bike as Wayne followed suit. The two brothers took off down the dirt path out of the village and raced onward towards Haven Academy.

Mistral: Hidden White Fang Base

Exo made his way down the hall of the White Fang facility with a female grunt in a basic uniform in tow. "We have several people available to help you with your assignment," said the grunt, "All of whom are far more mentally stable I might add." "Well that's great and all but I don't need mentally stable, I need a killing machine," replied Exo, "And since my job is hunting down traitors, someone who's not a member of the White Fang would make it easier."

"But this one's been causing nothing but trouble since we brought her here," said the grunt, "we lose track of her too easily and anyone who tries to approach her too closely has wound up injured and in some cases nearly dead." "Ever consider that she might just be bored," said Exo, "She's hardly been sent on any assignments since the attack on Beacon and you're trying to keep her confined to only a few areas in the base, sounds like all the right ingredients for a case of stir crazy."

"She didn't seem capable of going on any missions after she found out," said the grunt as they arrived at the door to one of the training rooms. "That's why I asked you to get me those files," said Exo, "Which I need right now by the way, so hand 'em over." "How are these even supposed to help," asked the grunt as she handed Exo the files.

"If my hunch is correct, she just needs something that'll interest her," said Exo, "Now open the door." The grunt looked unconvinced as she unlocked the door. "I still say this is a terrible idea," said the grunt as Exo walked in. "I didn't get into this profession to always play it safe," said Exo to the grunt before closing the door behind him.

Exo's eyes scanned the training room, noting an excessively large number of cut up androids on the floor. After another second of searching, Exo found who he was looking for, laying on top of the largest pile of androids, playing with one of the many severed android heads. "So this is why we only have a third the number of androids at this base," said Exo, hardly drawing the girl's attention, "And I hear you've messed up a good number of other soldiers, and even put a hurtin' on the Lieutenant."

The girl didn't respond as she continued spinning the android head in her hands. "Well how about something a little more exciting," said Exo as he pulled out the files he'd asked for and tossed them at Neo. The girl didn't even look over as she snatched the files out of the air and opened them up, not even once bothering to put the android head down. "That's a list of known traitors to the White Fang, a couple of whom, I've already hunted down," said Exo, "And the latest info on my current target says they're here in Mistral, conveniently enough, but that's not even the best part."

The girl continued flipping through the file until she stopped suddenly on one of the files, an actual expression finally coming over her face as she smirked a little. "You see it just so happens that some of those troublemakers from Beacon are in Mistral right now too," said Exo as the girl flipped through a couple of current photos of team WA, "A couple of our small bases here got raided a little while back by those two, you remember Wayne Ursario right, the one you sent flying off a cliff."

The girl finally acknowledged Exo with a smile as she happily nodded her head. "Well if they're in Mistral then the rest of their friends probably ain't far behind, which means if we run into them, you might finally get the chance to interrogate one of them on what happened to dear old Torchwick, would you like that?"

The girl stood up off the pile of androids as she smiled more mischievously while nodding her head. "So how about this," said Exo, "We start by trying to find the traitors in Mistral, and every moment we can spare, we look for those irritating Beacon kids, and when we find them, well I'll leave that up to you, so what do ya say?"

The girl looked over the files one last time before tossing them into the air and slicing them into ribbons. Bits of paper rained down like snow as a look of pure joy crossed the girl's face. "Glad to have you onboard Neo," said Exo.

 **And that brings us to the end of this chapter. I realize it was a bit short but this seemed like the best place to end before next chapter. Now I should warn everyone in advance, volume 4 is, obviously, my most recent work and therefore it may take more time to update than usual as it is still in the early stages of writing. But, don't worry, I intend to finish and post as close to regular schedule as I can. So once more, I'd like to say thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers and I'd like to encourage everyone to come back next chapter as we learn just how deeply the events of Beacon's fall have affected the Ursario brothers. We'll also catch up a with a certain other two people. 'Til next time.**


	40. Ruins, Sentimentality, And Brutality

**Ruins, Sentimentality, And Brutality**

The Forests of Mistral: Nightfall

Wayne and Aegis slowed their pace on their motorcycles as the sun set, noting a sign indicating an upcoming village. "Looks like we won't have to sleep on the ground in the rain tonight," yelled Aegis they approached the location of the village. "Or stay up to keep watch in the rain," said Wayne as he watched the trail, both him and his brother forced to keep their head lights off to avoid attracting any Grimm. "Yeah even night vision can only go so far when it's cloudy, wet and pitch black," replied Aegis as they came up to the village.

"Hold up," yelled Wayne as they both stopped at the edge of the village. "What the heck," said Aegis as he noted the absence of lights coming from the surrounding buildings. "Dismount," said Wayne as he got off his bike, "Pull the starters out of the bikes just in case someone unfriendly is around." "I'll search the right side," said Aegis as he dismounted his bike and pulled out his weapon, "You get the left."

Wayne pulled out his own weapons as they searched the village one building at a time. Searching abandoned villages had become a precautionary practice for the two brothers after they had run into some robbers earlier in their journey. Needless to say it didn't turn out well for the robbers.

As for this village, the entire area was a wreck with rubble strewn about the streets. Each building they looked through was a mess of broken furniture, shattered windows, destroyed walls and caved in ceilings. There were even some buildings which had been so devastated that only the frame was left standing. What happened here, thought Wayne, as he observed claw marks on some of the walls, Grimm were obviously here but there are also bullet holes, and slash marks that don't belong to any Grimm. Wayne continued to wonder as he and Aegis searched the last few buildings.

After several minutes the two brothers met back up in the center of the village, finding nothing amiss, save for a flock of birds which frightened Aegis, causing him to bust through a wall with his weapon and collapse one of the already fragile building. "Well this place has got nothing in it but rubble, ash, and bodies," Aegis said the last word with reluctance.

"It doesn't look like this place was only attacked by Grimm though," said Wayne. "No," stated Aegis, "The damage here matches the description of a bandit attack, which usually causes panic."

"And panic brings the Grimm," Wayne finished for Aegis somberly. The two brothers stood silently for a moment as they surveyed the village one last time as a bolt of lightning flashed in the distance. "Come on," said Wayne after another moment, "We best get the bikes inside and get a fire going." Aegis simply nodded as they headed back to the village entrance.

Later That Night

Rain pounded on the roof of the large indoor assembly hall in one of the few intact buildings left in the abandoned village as Wayne and Aegis sat around a fire they'd prepared, with their bikes sitting close by. Conversation was sparse at the moment, thanks to the somber mood and the two brothers trying to eat and stay vigilant at the same time. Wayne pulled out his scroll as he finished eating and started flipping through pictures he'd taken while at Beacon.

"Remembering the good ole days?" asked Aegis as he finished the last of his meal. "I've said it before," replied Wayne, "I don't think it's been long enough to call them 'the good ole days'." "Though it does feel like a long time ago," said Aegis, "and you are still sitting there remembering stuff right?" Asked Aegis.

"It was remembering at first," said Wayne as he flipped through a few more images, "Now it's more like reminding myself." "Reminding yourself of what exactly," Aegis Inquired further. "What we've lost, what we could still lose, and why we're here in the first place," said Wayne, "To keep the same thing that happened to Beacon from happening to anywhere else."

"Heh, don't need to remind me why we're out here," said Aegis as he leaned back on his sleeping bag with his hands behind his head, "Just the chance to pound those arrogant pricks into the ground is more than enough of a reason for me."

"What can I say," said Wayne, "I am a bit sentimental." "Way more than a 'bit' sentimental," Aegis pointed out, "You still have one of your first training coats hanging in the closet back home, you know the one with all the holes in it that you outgrew years ago."

"And you still have that cracked up training ax you started with years ago hanging on the wall above your bed," Wayne shot back, "It's a wonder the thing hasn't split in half and fallen on your head while you're sleeping." "I keep the thing maintained," Said Aegis, "and speaking of sleep, who's got first watch tonight?"

"You go on to sleep," Said Wayne, "I've got a couple more things to look through anyway." "Just remember to wake me up in a couple hours," said Aegis as he turned over to go to sleep, "You need rest too."

"I will," replied Wayne as he looked back at his scroll and continued going through the slides. It still surprised him just how many pictures he'd taken in his first, and only year at Beacon. Pictures of his and Aegis's first day, pictures of the school, the initiation. But the ones that Wayne always spent the longest on were their friends.

Where are you all right now, thought Wayne as he went through a picture of team WA and team RWBY at the library, then one of them with team CFVY goofing off at one of Vale's now destroyed malls, as well as one with team JNPR, feeling a familiar pang of grief as the glossed over a picture of Pyrrha.

Wayne flipped through a few more pictures until he stumbled onto one of the videos he also had. This is what I get for looking through all multimedia on my scroll, instead of just the picture library, thought Wayne. He hadn't taken the video himself, it had been sent to him by Aegis and the others.

The video was of him, Aegis, and a collection of their friends from teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY practicing with their weapons and messing around a few days before the Vytal Festival. Part of this 'goofing off', as Pyrrha called it, was everyone video-taping each other trying different weapons, which is why the video started with Aegis shooting Coco's Gatling gun, commenting on how loud it was.

Wayne couldn't help but smile as he saw how comical some of his friends looked using someone else's weapon. But, as always, his smile faded when Emerald entered the video, accepting a dare to try and use Ruby's scythe then swearing when she lost her balance due to the weapon's recoil. Wayne would then proceed to catch her, making some stupid comment about how sickles and scythes were not so similar while everyone else simply laughed.

Why haven't I deleted this, thought Wayne for the thousandth time as he started to pull up the video options. As he did so, the video continued as the scene turned into an odd type of chaos as Nora managed to get a hold of Coco's Gatling gun while no one was looking, trying to fire both it and her grenade launcher at the same time. Needless to say, she became imbalanced and started firing Gatling rounds and grenades all over the field, forcing everyone to run for the nearest cover. Wayne managed to pull Emerald to the ground as they both hid behind a nearby tree, hoping for the gunfire and explosions to die down.

Fortunately, Blake and Ren managed to tackle Nora off camera, while the recording kept focusing on Wayne protectively embracing Emerald. "I think it's safe Wayne," said Emerald when the noise died down, "You can let go now." "Sorry," said Wayne as he released Emerald, "trait from my animal side, protect the nearest pretty girl." "I think that's a guy trait in general," replied Emerald. "Well either way I still think it's a good instinct," said Wayne with a slight smile.

"Hey Mr. Instinct," said Yang suddenly, "Smile." Wayne suddenly realized, with great embarrassment, that he and Emerald were still both on the ground, and intimately close to each other. Which wouldn't have been half as embarrassing if not for the fact that many of his friends all had their scrolls out to take pictures.

Both teens quickly moved away from each other as they stood up, their faces beet red. "Oh don't let us interrupt your little 'ahem' bonding moment," said Coco. "Oh come on you know that's not what was happening," exclaimed Wayne. "Seriously," said Emerald, "I mean even if we were doing something, and we weren't, we'd be waaaay more discrete about it."

"So you'd be doing something right now if not for all your friends watching?" Asked Yang with a raised eyebrow. "Yes," said Wayne and Emerald quickly before backpedaling, "I mean no, no way, absolutely not," Said Wayne. "That would be way too weird," said Emerald.

"You guy's faces are redder than my hood right now," laughed Ruby. "Your sister caught me off guard," said Wayne, "I meant to say no." "Sure you did," said Coco, "Maybe I should give Nora my gun again and we'll see what happens."

"NOOOO," everyone else yelled. "Only joking," said Coco with a grin. "You guys are gonna give me a heart attack at this rate," said Wayne. "What are friends and family for," said Aegis as everyone else started laughing. Wayne simply rolled his eyes as he joined in on the laughter. Emerald looked unsure at first, but then started laughing herself.

Wayne's finger continued to hover over the delete button as the video, and the memory, ended. After everything, thought Wayne, and I still can't bring myself to delete a stupid video. Another few moments passed before Wayne finally switched his scroll back to its home screen and returned it to his pocket. When I find you Emerald, he thought, you will answer for what you've done.

White Fang Warehouse

"AAAAAARGH," The raccoon Faunus yelled as the bones in another one of his fingers was crushed. "There's no point in denying it Coop," said Exo to the raccoon Faunus who was currently chained to a table in an otherwise bare room, save for the other two chairs, one of which was currently occupied by Neo, "I know you were a pretty good friend of his, and everyone else at this little ware house says you were on camera duty the night the truck was stolen."

"I t-told you," stammered Coop, "he knocked me out, tied me to a chair, there was nothing I could do." "And he just happened to know the gate code, even though they should've all been changed just a few days ago," said Exo, leaning forward as his eyes narrowed, "And he also just happened to know which trucks carried what, even though the manifest itself hadn't even been filed."

"All he had to do was look around a bit," said Coop, "And you said he had someone else with him, maybe she was a hacker?" "Neo," said Exo, "Something new this time." Neo smiled as she unsheathed the blade in her parasol and stabbed Coop through the foot, forcing a blood curdling yell from the Faunus.

"The cameras were cut," said Exo, "And I knew the guy long enough to know that he only cuts a camera feed if he expects to be doing a quick in and out, and in a place designed to house all manner of supplies, it would've taken him a bit of time to find what he was looking for, unless he already knew where it was, but that's not even the funniest part about this whole thing."

"W-what's the f-funny part," squeaked Coop between pained breaths. "I never mentioned that his accomplice was a she," said Exo with a smirk. Neo, without prompting, twisted the blade in Coop's foot, causing the coon boy to writhe in pain. "Now let's try this one last time," said Exo, "Where is Drake Beller?"

 **40 chapters, never knew I could crank out that many. As well as reaching a new milestone of over 5,500 views, all I have to say is thank you everyone. Thank you to all my followers, reviewers, and viewers. Though some bad news, there may be some delay in my later chapters, and once volume 4 is complete, I may be taking a break from the story after that. But don't worry, for now there is still a good bit of story I have to write out. So tune in next time as we catch up with another pair of characters traveling through Mistral. 'Til next time.**


	41. A Better Beller

**A Better Beller**

City of Vale: Just After Beacon's Fall

Drake perched atop a roof as he surveyed the area of the city which had been established as a safe zone for the citizens. It hadn't been easy getting to the city, especially with Adam sending out the word about his betrayal. But, thanks to May vouching for him, and Drake carving the White Fang symbol off his back, he'd managed to get a shuttle ride back with May's team. Though he did have to find a hiding place as soon as the shuttle set down to avoid being arrested by any soldiers that might've recognized him.

Now here he sat, looking at the results of the White Fang's handiwork, Cinder's handiwork, his handiwork. The city of Vale which had been so lively just a few hours ago, now stood in ruins in several places, and the only area where anyone could be found was right here in this safe zone. But the only life that could be found in this place was fear, sadness, and anger as the citizens of Vale, both human and Faunus, could only wonder what would happen next.

At least May and Blake made it out alive, thought Drake as he caught a glimpse of Blake checking on everyone before, leaving? Drake blinked his eyes a couple of times to make sure. Blake was leaving the safe zone, and she hadn't said a word to anyone. Where are you going, thought Drake as he slid off the roof onto the street.

I'm sorry everyone, thought Blake as she turned down another alley, but it's better this way. Even despite these thoughts, though, Blake couldn't help some of the tears that came to her eyes. "This seems familiar in a way," said a voice over Blake's shoulder. Blake whirled around, drawing her weapon as she did so and pointed it at her pursuer. "Easy now," said Drake as he held his hands up, "I'm not here to fight." "Drake!" Exclaimed Blake.

"The one and only," said Drake. "What are you, why are you following me?" asked Blake, clearly confused. "I just wanted to talk," said Drake, "Can I put my hands down?" Blake sighed as she lowered her weapon, "What is it Drake," she questioned, "You've been lurking around the Vytal Festival this whole time, why are you trying to talk to me now?"

"One of Adam's conditions for allowing me to participate in the tournament was to have no contact with you," replied Drake, "Less of a chance of anyone suspecting anything." "And now," asked Blake. "Now I'm just here wondering why," said Drake, "Why are you running again and where too?"

Blake thought for a moment before answering. "First, tell me why you went against Adam, why did you save me?" asked Blake. "Well I guess I finally realized," said Drake as he removed his mask, "You were right, the way the Fang is doing things now doesn't actually help our kind." "What finally changed your mind?" asked Blake.

"A couple things," said Drake, "Your departure from the Fang, my second match with Ursario, you know the one who gave me this nice little feature on my face two years ago." "I remember that day," said Blake, "I tried to hate him, but then I learned why he dropped out of the tournament, you know he was afraid he'd killed you?"

"Yes the Ursario brothers have proven quite surprising, especially considering you call them friends now," said Drake. "They're not so bad once you get to know them," said Blake. "And speaking of surprising behavior, you still haven't told me why you're running," Drake pointed out.

Blake sighed before speaking, "They're safer if I'm not around them," she said, "Adam wants to target them, all just to hurt me, so I don't have any choice but to run." "You've run before," said Drake, crossing his arms, "And what did it solve?" "It's different this time," exclaimed Blake, "Before I ran because I didn't know what else to do, but this time it's the only thing I can do."

"You could always stay with them," said Drake, "That monkey, Sun, will definitely miss you, and I think your firey, blonde-haired friend needs all the support she can get." "Yang lost her arm because Adam wanted to hurt me," said Blake, her shoulders slumping, "As much as I want to, I can't risk being around them anymore." "Not budging then," said Drake as he put his mask back on, "Then I only have one more question, 'where will you go now?'"

Wandering Caravan: A Couple Months Later

Drake awoke to the sound of movement outside of his tent. That dream again, thought Drake as he rubbed his eyes. Suddenly, a bell sounded, waking up the rest of the camp. "Alright everyone time to get up," yelled a woman, the organizer of the caravan, "We need to get this campsite packed up and moving, the next town is only a few miles away." A groan sounded next to Drake as a red-headed girl with disheveled looking hair rolled over on her cot.

"Do we have to get up now," she asked. "I'm afraid so," said Drake, "Or the caravan lady will drag us out of our tents." "Oh alright," said the girl as she searched around and pulled out a beanie, "But they better not touch my rifle again." "I'll spread the word about that," said Drake with a slight grin as he got up to start the day.

There we go, Drake thought as he finished organizing the last of the supply boxes in the back of one of the many wagons before stepping out to survey what was left of the latest camping sight of the caravan, a large clearing by the road. I've moved around a lot in my life but never quite like this, he thought as he made his way through the many wagons, looking for one person in particular. "Drake, over here," a voice called, attracting Drake's attention as he looked over to see May Zedong standing next to one of the organizers of the caravan waving at him.

"I guess you've finally got those boxes organized," said May as Drake walked over. "It took a bit of time, but the food's been separated from the dust rounds, in most of the wagons anyway," said Drake, "How about you?" "We've managed to pack up most of the traps and defenses around the camp to ward off the Grimm," said the organizer, a blond-haired woman wearing traveler's pants, gloves, and a worker's shirt, "Miss Zedong here was quite helpful in getting them placed, not a single Grimm got in last night."

"Not so surprising," said Drake, "She's one of the best trap layers I've ever met, even better than most professionals." "Oh it's nothing," said May, trying not to sound flattered, "I'm just doing my part to help out you know."

"You shouldn't undersell yourself," said the organizer as she spoke to both of them, "Nor you mister Bell, let's not forget it was because of you two and that truck of supplies you brought that allowed us to care for our wounded and insure we had enough food to make it to the next town in the first place."

"Oh you know," said May, "Just trying to help and all that." "And it's greatly appreciated," said the organizer with a smile before turning a little somber, "It's a shame really, are you two sure you can't stick around." "Once again I appreciate the offer," said Drake, "But there is another place we need to be, a place I would not want to drag anyone in this caravan into."

"I guess going to secretive dangerous places is just part of what a huntsman and huntress do," said the organizer as she turned to head off, "Even the ones still in training." "Well you know what they say," said May, rubbing the back of her head, "read the fine print before you take a job." "Isn't that the truth," said the organizer as she turned to leave, "Well your work is done for now, so you two can relax for a bit, but remember, we start rolling out in the next hour." "We'll be ready," said Drake as the Organizer walked off.

"Man if only she knew," said May as soon as the organizer was out of earshot. "As we've discussed before, it's best that they don't," said Drake as he sat down on the bench of a currently unoccupied wagon, "I doubt they'd appreciate the supplies as much if they knew we stole them from a secret White Fang warehouse." "I know I know," said May, sitting down next to Drake, "The less they know the better." "Just like how our being here may put them in danger too," said Drake, "Remember I'm being hunted now."

May laughed a little as she took a hold of Drake's arm and leaned against him. "What's so funny," asked Drake. "Oh I just find it kind of humorous is all," replied May, "You put on this all business exterior, but you're really a big softie aren't you?" "And just how am I a softie," asked Drake, feigning offense.

"You pretended like we couldn't help them at first, but you just so happened to remember that a White Fang warehouse was on the way to the next town," said May, "And you only want to leave as soon as possible because you're worried someone will catch up to you and endanger the caravan."

"If there's anyone to blame for me being a 'softie'," said Drake with a small smile, "It's you." "Me," repeated May with a raised eyebrow. "Ever since you insisted on coming along with me, I've felt this insatiable need to prove to you that I'm not a hate-filled, bloodthirsty, crusader bent on ending all humanity," said Drake. "Isn't that a good thing?" questioned May.

"How could it be," said Drake, feigning misery, "I can't spend hours of my day seething in rage while plotting the demise of my enemies, or contemplating the impossibility of humans and Faunus ever coexisting," Drake suddenly pulled May into a hug as he continued speaking, "No, instead I have to spend my time helping people, human and Faunus, dwelling on the fact that for so many years I was wrong, and being, dare I say it, nice to people."

"Well I don't mind you being a little bit of a softie," said May as she leaned against Drake even more. "Oh sure you don't mind," said Drake, "What has being nice ever gotten me but this beautiful understanding girl whose sharp eyes looked beyond my hatred and saw my aching heart."

"Ah thanks," said May, "You're not so bad on the eyes yourself." "You see," said Drake as he playfully poked at May, "There you go again giving me the warm fuzzies, how is anyone supposed to be mean when you do that?" "Oh I'm sure you'll find a way," said May, in between laughing fits, as Drake continued poking at her ticklish spot.

After another hour, the preparations for the caravan to leave were complete. During that time, however, a mysterious black car that, despite its appearance, was easily able to drive through the forested trails, arrived on a cliff side overlooking the caravan. The two front doors on the car opened as Exo stepped out of the driver's side and Neo stepped out of the passenger side, her open parasol resting on her shoulder.

Pulling out a pair of binoculars, Exo surveyed the area until he caught site of the caravan. "I guess I owe you five lien," said Exo, "It is a caravan and not just a small convoy of wagons." Neo simply smiled as she held out her hand, catching the lien Exo tossed to her. "And what do we have here," said Exo as he spotted his target, "There you are old buddy, and what's this?" Neo suddenly waved at Exo, also wanting to see. "It seems Drake's gone and found him someone," said Exo as he handed Neo the binoculars.

After a moment, Neo stopped looking through the binoculars and made a motion as if she were gagging. "Yeah, I never figured him for the romantic type either," said Exo. Neo then proceeded to make a slicing gesture across her throat with her hand. "If you really feel the need you can slaughter a few of them, his girl included, but our first priority is Drake, after that you can have a field day." Neo then pointed at the car, a questioning look on her face. "As much as I hate to say it, no" said Drake, "Even with the engine on silent, they'd still notice the smoke cloud kicked up by the car long before we arrived, so we're gonna have to do this on foot."

Neo nodded in understanding but still looked at him questioningly. "Oh don't worry," said Exo, "I've been doing some snooping around for those students too, word has it a pair of brothers have been wiping out Grimm at a couple of local villages, and one of them wields sickles and the other has a glass ax and bear ears." A sinister smile stretched across Neo's face as Exo told her a couple of other details. "But remember, first things first."

Neo nodded happily as she closed her parasol and, without hesitation, leaped off the cliff. Great, thought Exo, this keeps up I'll be an expert on talking to mute psycos, oh well. Exo soon followed after Neo.

Caravan: Moving Out

The last wagon had been loaded and the call to move out was sent around the caravan as the wagons started moving. Drake sat in the back of one of the last wagons as he kept a look out for the rear of the caravan. "Drake," called May from the front of the wagon, "I'm gonna move to the front of the caravan now." "Keep a sharp eye out," Drake called back. "I always do," May yelled back as she turned and began running alongside the wagons to the front.

In just a little while, we'll be to the next town, thought Drake. Suddenly, the wagon jolted and came to a sudden stop. The heck, thought Drake, as he looked up front. "What's going on," asked Drake as he hopped off the back of the wagon and came around the side. The driver pointed at one of the wheels, which had somehow been sliced through. "Ah hold on," said Drake, as his eyes began darting around, "I'll get the tools to get the wheel off."

Drake made his way to the back of the wagon as he rummaged around for the right tools, but also keeping his eyes and ears extra alert now. In another instant, the sound of something embedding itself on the back steps of the wagon. Drake seized the handle of his weapon as a suddenly appearing black blade came swinging into view.

 **And at last the slowed pace comes to an end. The next couple of chapters might be longer too. For those of you waiting for the action, don't worry, there's gonna be a good bit of it the next couple of chapters as paths intersect and fates become intertwined. Not to mention the display of a few new moves and abilities. Once again, thank you to everyone, my followers, reviewers, and viewers for reading, it really helps knowing that I've written something that people can enjoy. 'Til next time.**


	42. Clash of Mist, Blades, and Glass

**Clash of Mist, Blades, and Glass**

Black mist suddenly shot out of the wagon as Drake Beller dove out of the front, barely avoiding the black blade as it cut through both sides, collapsing the wagon's roof. Drake rolled as he hit the ground, just managing to draw his cleaver blade as Exo came leaping out of the wagon after him. Drake blocked, and parried the first couple of strikes as Exo tried pushing the advantage with several vicious sword strikes.

Drake was on the defensive at first as Exo pushed him back, until Drake managed to spin, drawing his second blade in the process, then, parrying with his cleaver blade, Drake tried slashing at Exo's gut, only to hit empty air as the mercenary teleported back over to where his first knife had hit at the wagon, leaving his sword behind, embedded in the ground. "Hello Drake," said Exo, "Love the new white jacket, no White Fang symbol, and a less intimidating mask." "You know I half-expected Adam to come out here himself after I stopped him from hurting Blake," said Drake, "But I guess I'm not surprised that they sent you after me."

"Well who better to hunt you down than your old partner," said Exo as he twirled one of his knives in his hand. "And I doubt you feel the least bit sympathetic about it," said Drake as he took a fighting stance, "Heck, you were probably overjoyed to hear that I betrayed the White Fang." "Don't get me wrong," said Exo as he stood ready in his own fighting stance, "We pulled off some pretty good gigs together, but I am first and foremost a mercenary, meaning," Exo threw his knife at Drake, who deflected it, just as Exo teleported to the knife and attempted a downward stab, which Drake blocked, "I do the job I'm paid to do!"

Drake pushed the knife away and slashed at Drake, forcing him to teleport to his sword, which he picked up and swung in a horizontal slash. Drake hopped over the blade and slashed downward with both of his blades. Exo dropped his knife and gripped his sword with both hands as he brought it up to block Drake's strike. The two fighters stood there with their blades locked until Exo kicked his knife behind Drake before teleporting to it as well. As Exo appeared with his sword held high, Drake dove to the side, releasing black mist from his body as he did so, forcing Exo back.

The black mist spread out several feet until it enveloped a small area. The sound of clashing metal could be heard from inside the mist, as well as the sound of knives hitting the ground and the slight cracking sound which accompanied Exo's teleportations. After another couple of minutes, Exo leaped out of the mist and landed near the wagon, his breathing quickened as he held his sword at the ready. It's been awhile since I've fought inside that mist without being able to see, thought Exo, never thought I'd miss my training sessions with the guy.

The sound of a blade sheathing reached Exo's ears. It's gonna be that way then, thought Exo. In another moment, a shot rang out as a white dust round came speeding out of the mist, followed shortly by another, then another after that. Exo's hands shook as he blocked the first couple of shots, before backing up a little ways towards the wagon. You've added more kick to your rounds, thought Exo as he blocked another shot before leaping between the wagon and the horses who'd been struggling to run away with the wagon, brushing his hand on the yoke before rolling to the other side and crouching behind it. More shots busted through the wagon as Exo tuned his ears to the timing and sound of the shots.

More noticeable lag between shots, thought Exo as he concentrating on pinpointing Drake's location in the mist. After another couple of moments, the shots suddenly stopped. Exo strained his ears, before hearing another shot ring out, hitting the connector holding the horses, allowing them to run away. Oh boy, thought Exo, I know what's coming next. After the horses ran a short distance, the mist suddenly expanded, engulfing the wagon and Exo as the center of the mist suddenly ignited. The whole area was quickly engulfed in flame for a few moments as the mist dissipated, leaving scorched land and a burning wagon behind.

Drake shifted his weapon back to its cleaver form as he surveyed the area, the cat-like ears on his head twitching as he tried to hear or see even the slightest movement. He's not behind the wagon, Drake observed as a glint in the sky suddenly caught his attention. Drake looked up in time to see a knife flying through the air before Exo suddenly teleported into view, bringing his sword down on Drake in a vicious falling vertical strike. Drake blocked with his cleaver blade as the force of the impact echoed through the forest and caused his feet to crater into the ground.

"Nice try," said Exo as he tried forcing Drake to his knees through brute strength, "But I did pay attention to a lot of your tricks while we worked together." "I did the same," said Drake, a groan to his voice as he pushed his blade back against Exo's before suddenly falling back and putting his foot up, causing Exo to topple over as Drake kicked him off of him and into the wagon, "Placing your teleporter rune on the horse's yoke was a pretty good trick, you knew I wouldn't place them in danger?"

"It was a gamble," said Exo as he stood back up, "But I figured you wouldn't roast the caravan's horses if you didn't have too." "Just like you gambled that you could take me alone?" asked Drake. "Uuugh," said a voice as the dog Faunus driver for the wagon suddenly came stumbling into view, his body burned all over, "What happened," asked the driver as he was about to collapse.

"No," said Drake as he caught the driver, slowly lowering him to the ground. "Seems you managed to torch the driver, though," said Exo. "Why did you come back," said Drake, "you knew it was dangerous." The driver didn't answer, but smiled instead. Drake felt a sharp pain in his back as the driver's eyes turned to pink and brown as a malicious smile crossed the driver's face.

"You!," exclaimed Drake as he jumped away, feeling the area where the knife had hit his back. My aura protected me that time, thought Drake, but I can't take too many more hits like that. The driver stood up, their body shimmering like glass as Neo resumed her normal appearance, her parasol also seemingly materializing out of nowhere. "So he brought you too," said Drake, wincing a little as he spoke. "Yeah I remembered that we're practically equal in fighting ability," said Exo, "But my job is to hunt down all traitors to the Fang, so one gamble I couldn't take was fighting you alone."

"And what does she get out of all this," asked Drake as Neo closed her umbrella and extended the blade at the end. "Oh I'm just helping her find a few people she wants to punish," said Exo, "You'll be happy to know that the Ursario's are on her list, and mine as well." "Those guys actually rack up a bounty," asked Drake as he separated his blades and took a fighting stance. "Nah, these guys are just for fun!" Exclaimed Exo as he and Neo charged at Drake.

Back At The Caravan

"We've got trouble," said May as she looked back through her scope at the area where Drake had been, noting the smoke from a fire. "Any ideas what's going on?" Asked the Caravan organizer as she pulled up next to the wagon May was on. "Drake's in trouble back there," said May as she turned to the organizer, "I hate to ask this, but I need a favor."

Scorched Area

Blades clashed as sparks lit up one area then another in the black mist which had covered the area for several minutes now. Three fighters moved through the mist in a deadly dance, one creating images which would shatter, another spread more knives as they teleported again and again, and the last wielded their dual blades, the only thing keeping them alive being their ability to see in the mist. But even that was beginning to fail as Exo was familiar with Drake's attack patterns and used his hearing to better locate him, and Neo had always been a cunning fighter, using her own illusionary glass clones to trick Drake into revealing his position.

The longer the fight goes on, thought Drake, the closer they get, I've already gotten cut a couple of times, gotta change tactics. Drake tripped one of his canisters of ice dust and fused it with his mist, causing a wave of frost to spread out and cover everything in the area. The mist cleared as the ice settled, revealing a now white section of landscape. Drake looked over the area, noting multiple glass clones of Neo had been frozen in place, and Exo kneeled close by, his movements greatly slowed by the layer of ice as his sword stood embedded in the ground in front of him.

"Forgot about this trick," said Exo. "You are a good fighter Exo," said Drake as he approached the mercenary, "But you let yourself get too wrapped up in it sometimes, and this time," Drake swung both blades, slashing Exo across the chest, "It was fatal." Exo's face remained emotionless, until suddenly his form shattered like glass, as well as all the other glass statues. Crap, thought Drake as he whirled around, only to be met with a knife slashing across his chest as Exo stood there with a conniving grin on his face.

"I guess I should say I mostly forgot," said Exo, "But Neo studied and came up with a plan before we got here." As if on cue, Neo appeared behind Drake, lunging at him with the pointed tip of her umbrella. Drake blocked the first couple of strikes, but then had to dodge a couple of attacks from Exo as he leaped in with a few knife swings of his own.

Drake parried and counterattacked, but missed as Exo teleported to his sword. Drake didn't have time to recover as he felt a stab in his leg by Neo before she pulled the blade out and moved away, allowing Exo room to move in. Great, thought Drake, I maintained my mist too long and at too wide a range, I can't produce it again just yet. "What no mist Drake," said Exo as he and Neo circled and attacked Drake over and over again, "I imagine you haven't had a need to use it for that long or that wide for quite some time." Drake didn't answer as he was kept on the defensive by both Neo and Exo. Just a little longer, thought Drake, just a little longer.

But it was time Drake didn't have as Exo managed to get a hit in on Drake's right side as the two continued attacking relentlessly. Drake was finding it harder and harder to block as Neo managed to get in another strike on his left shoulder and Exo came swinging in with a blow which Drake was barely able to block. Neo then came in and knocked Drake's foot out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground as Neo stabbed him through his left shoulder. Drake grunted loudly in pain as Neo dug the blade in, twisting it as she did so. Drake gritted his teeth against the pain as blood slowly flowed from the wound, the blade currently keeping it from seeping out of control.

"Good work Neo," said Exo as he stood over the wounded Drake, "As for you Drake well, the Fang obviously needs you dead, but just one question first," Exo held his sword at the ready, prepared to decapitate Drake, "You got any idea where some of those troublemakers from Beacon are." "Maybe I do and maybe I don't," grunted Drake as he tried to lift his right blade, only for Neo to stomp on his arm, the heel of her shoe digging into Drake's wrist. "Well I'm leanin' towards, you don't," said Exo, "But don't worry, you can still help me out by donating your head."

As Exo lifted his sword, a shot rang out as a sniper bullet impacted against Exo, knocking him over as he yelped in surprise. Neo quickly pulled her blade out of Drake as she opened her parasol to deflect another shot aimed at her. Now, thought Drake as he unleashed his mist, tripping his energy dust as he did so. His two current enemies were taken by surprise as they were engulfed in a bright, glowing cloud. Neo was knocked over, while Exo took a good bit of damage to his aura. "Drake," yelled May as she came riding in on a horse. Drake managed to get up and quickly stagger away as he grabbed May's hand and leapt up on the horse.

"Hold on," said May as she turned the horse around and headed back up the road, leaving Drake's two attackers behind. "That # #$ cat," said Exo as he stood up slowly, examining some of the burns on his body, "He had to find a girl who knows how to shoot." Neo had also gotten up and was dusting herself off, her aura having just managed to hold against the energized mist, a fairly neutral look on her face.

"We need to head back to the car," said Exo as he replaced his sword on his back and began picking up his knives. Neo also picked up some of the knives and handed them back to Exo with a questioning look on her face. "Yes I want to go after them immediately too," said Exo, "But as you've likely noticed, both our aura's are down and I need to tend to some of these burns." Neo nodded in understanding, then pointed at her shoulder and leg, then did a slicing motion across her throat.

"Yes, Drake can't go too far in his condition right now," said Exo, "They'll likely have to stop in the nearest town to find a doctor, we'll get him there." As the two turned to leave, another thought struck Exo as he turned back to Neo. "You know how I said wait 'til we kill Drake before we kill anyone else," said Exo. Neo nodded at Exo. "Next time we find him, you can slice that girl of his to pieces whether we run into Drake first or not." Neo smiled evilly at the thought as she and Exo made their way back to the cliff where the car was stashed.

Nearby Town of Sol Kaze: A Couple hours of Riding Later

"Just hang on Drake, we've made it to the town," said May as they slowed their gallop on the horse, "Just keep pressure on that gauze and, DRAKE!" May yelled as Drake suddenly slid off the horse and onto the ground. "No, no, no hang on Drake," said May as she picked him up and lifted him back onto the horse, "You're not dying on me." May led the horse into the town, searching for the nearest doctor.

Sol Kaze: A Few Minutes Later at another Entrance

The sound of two running motors was heard as a pair of brothers came over the last hill and entered into the town, slowing their motorcycles to a halt as they stopped at the entrance. "Great, a town that's not destroyed," said Aegis. "They have soldiers who patrol any nearby areas where the Grimm might be," said Wayne, "Looks like they've gotten lucky so far." "They're not the only lucky ones," said Aegis as his stomach growled, "I think I'm ready for something besides packed food and freshly killed animals." "What," said Wayne sarcastically, "How could you possibly hate stored travel food that might go out of date anytime, and the wild game tastes great over a fire, even without all of the seasonings and toppings and other stuff that makes some food taste extra good."

"Yes," said Aegis, "But the wild does not produce donuts, and I smell donuts." "Or have Inns," said Wayne, "It'll be nice to sleep without having to keep watch." "No kidding," Said Aegis, "Other than the Grimm these small villages don't usually attract trouble, right." "Nope," said Wayne, "All peaceful and quiet." Without another word, the two brothers road into the town.

 **The players begin to gather and their enemies begin to close in. Hello, everyone, sorry for the late update, but I've finally gotten to the point of my story which is a little less developed, so I'm still looking for the best ways to fit everything into volume four. That and you know, work, life, etc., those kinds of things that keep one busy. But once again, I'd like to say thanks to my reviewers, followers and viewers, not just for reaching over 6,000 views on the story, but for still sticking with the story despite the delays. So thank you again everyone, and stop in next time as Wayne and Aegis once again come face to face with their opponents from the Vytal Festival. 'Til next time.**


	43. Old Enemies and Unexpected Allies

**Old Enemies and Unexpected Allies**

Sol Kaze: Town Center

The town of Sol Kaze was fairly unremarkable as far as most towns Wayne and Aegis had seen so far. It wasn't small, but it was by no means enormous either as cabin-like houses, restaurants, Inns, and other businesses lined the cobblestone streets. Traffic along the streets was fairly sparse, allowing the two brothers to ride their motorcycles through the town with relative ease, though at a slow pace until they reached the town's central area.

Wayne and Aegis parked their bikes at a temporary spot in the town square as they dismounted and began wondering the town. "So here's the plan," said Aegis, "You go and find us the nearest Inn to bunk for a night or two." "And you're gonna go find the best restaurant, tavern, and/or place of food in town right?" Said Wayne. "Or deli," said Aegis, "I think I might've smelled honey glaze at some point."

"You, me, and the rest of this town would know if you smelled honey anything," said Wayne. "That's why it's best if I find it now," said Aegis, "If I catch a scent of honey while I'm on the other side of this little town, well-," "I have to explain the sudden appearance of a large trail of destruction leading up to a honey scented area," said Wayne, "And probably pay for damages." "So to avoid that," Aegis said. "Alright, go find the food places then," said Wayne.

"Yes sir," said Aegis with a mock salute before walking off in the direction of the nearest restaurant. "Now where's a good Inn around here," said Wayne out loud to no one in particular as he started walking in a different direction. Just hope the places around here aren't too pricy, thought Wayne as he glanced at the signs on each building he passed.

Wayne walked for several minutes before he finally turned a corner that appeared to be the main drag for a small number of Inns, doctor's offices, and hospitals. This might be promising, thought Wayne as he began walking down the street at a bit of a slower pace. Wish this part of the town smelled a bit better, thought Wayne as he caught the scent of antiseptic, different medicines and herbs, blood and-, Wayne stopped for a moment as he sniffed the air again, trying to distinguish a single scent.

Wayne reached into his coat and rested his hand on one of his weapons as he began walking again, only this time with a deliberate destination in mind as he went around the back of one of the hospitals to find a closed door, with dried blood outside of it. If this scent belongs to who I think it belongs too, thought Wayne, this whole little town might be one big trap.

Restaurant District near Town Entrance:

They thought they could hide the honey stuff from me, thought Aegis as he walked down the street triumphantly, holding a couple jars of honey. He'd managed to sniff them out at a local store near one of the town's entrances. Wish the price had been better, he thought, lucky for them this wasn't a few months ago or I probably would've ransacked the whole store, but right now we're on a budget, a budget that doesn't cover honey and repairing whole stores at the same time.

As Aegis walked and ate his fill of the honey in the jars, he glanced over to the entrance gate, catching the sight of a parasol as two strangers entered the town. The one holding the parasol was a small, petite girl with black hair and a gray and white business casual outfit who was accompanied by a larger individual wearing a black coat with his hood up, obscuring his head and most of his face. The figure also carried a long fabric case, the kind which was used for carrying long metal objects.

Upon seeing them, Aegis quickly hid in a nearby alley as every instinct he'd developed over the years told him something was off about them. As he watched the two newcomers from afar, the wind changed direction and started blowing towards him, bringing all kinds of scents his way, including the scents of the ones he was wary of. Oh crap, thought Aegis as he recognized the scents of two very familiar adversaries. Quickly putting up his jars of honey, Aegis reached for the weapon on his back.

But in this instance, Aegis did something he rarely did, he paused with his hand on his weapon. Think about this for a minute, Aegis told himself, a few months ago you would've jumped in without thinking much but if those two are who you think they are then you're gonna need help. Aegis took another moment to see if he'd been spotted by his two enemies before slipping out the back of the alley and headed off in search of Wayne

"He's here alright," said Exo as he sniffed some blood droplets on the ground, "If we're lucky he's still too injured to fight and-," Exo stopped midsentence as he caught another scent before bringing his hand to his chin in thought, a small smile crossing his face. Neo looked at him questioningly. "Oh don't worry, just thought I smelled something that needed to die for a moment," said Exo as he began walking towards where Drake's scent was, Neo following closely behind.

Sol Kaze Hospital

Well this is weird, thought Wayne as he examined the door, the door's unlocked meaning this guy was either in too big a hurry to worry about it or this is a trap, but for me and Aegis, or someone else. Wayne thought for another moment before he pulled his wire out of his left sleeve and wrapped it around the knob, turning it so that the bolt was unfastened from the door. Then, reeling his wire out as he did so, Wayne moved back a few feet with his weapon trained on the door and yanked on the wire, causing the door to fling open.

After a moment of nothing happening, Wayne made his way inside, sweeping the hallways with his weapon as he did so, noting the surprisingly small number of people in this part of the hospital. As he was about to turn a corner, Wayne noticed a slight shadow, shaped like a head. Readying himself, Wayne moved forward slightly, then quickly ducked as the bladed end of a rifle stock came swinging into view, barely missing his head. Wayne whirled around, moving in close as he did so and caught the return swing of the rifle by its barrel as he shoved back against his attacker, a purple-haired girl in a grey and dark-red hood wearing a beanie.

The girl shoved back against Wayne, who side-stepped her as he turned and used her momentum to throw her to the floor. The girl rolled back up, managing to reposition her rifle as she did so, and point the barrel at Wayne, who pointed his own weapon in its SMG form at her. The two slowly circled each other. "Are you White Fang," asked the girl as she kept her rifle trained on Wayne. "More like White Fang's most wanted," said Wayne, "I think." "You think?" said the girl.

Wayne was about to answer when he heard movement behind him. Drawing his other weapon, Wayne pointed his other Crescent Fang at the new comer. "Oh you're wanted alright Wayne," said the new comer. "Drake," said Wayne, surprised in spite of himself as he looked at Drake, who was currently missing his trademark coat and mask and his body was covered in bandages. "What in Remnant happened to you," asked Wayne as he observed Drake's condition. "Well the gist of it," said Drake, "Is me and the Fang had a bit of a falling out."

"And now they're hunting him," said the girl, "What about you, you looking for him too?" "Actually, I caught his scent by chance," Replied Wayne, "My beef is with Drake's bosses, or former bosses now." "It's okay May," said Drake, "This is Wayne Ursario of team WA, one of Beacon's thorns in the White Fang's side."

"Wait team WA, from the Vytal Festival," said May as she lowered her rifle, "You mean the team that just barely managed to-," "Yes," said Drake. "And this is 'the' Wayne Ursario, the one you wanted to-," "Yes," said Drake, cutting off May. "The guy who gave you the scar on your-," "YES!" said Drake, cutting off May with more insistence this time. "Yeah me and Drake have a bit of history," said Wayne as he lowered his own weapons. "So if you aren't looking for Drake, why are you here?" Asked May.

"If you mean 'why am I in this town of all places'," said Wayne, "The short answer is we've been traveling awhile and needed to stop for the night." "You mean you and us being here in the same town right now was just," May started to say. "One big fat coincidence," Wayne finished for her. Mays stayed silent for a moment before she began giggling, which led into straight up laughter. "Oh that's hilarious," said May as she continued to laugh. "Is she okay," Wayne asked Drake as he pointed a thumb at May. "Give her a sec," said Drake.

"It's just, I nearly took your head off," said May, "I thought you were with those two from earlier, but you just happened to be in town and wondered in here just because you thought you smelled something." "I did smell something," said Wayne, "My nose doesn't usually lie, and what two from earlier?" "Exo and Neo," said Drake. "You mean you were attacked by-,"

Wayne's sentence was cut short as the back door of the hospital building burst open as Aegis came running around the corner. "It's Wolf prick and parasol girl, they're here" said Aegis, stopping short when he saw May and Drake, "Who are these guys, is that?" "Yeah it's misty cat," said Wayne as he kept May from pointing her rifle at Aegis, "And this is May, who will 'not' be trying to shoot you today." "Who's this guy," asked May. "The other half of team WA," said Drake. "Aegis Ursario," said May.

"In the flesh," said Aegis. "Yes everyone knows each other," said Drake as he moved back into his room in the hospital. "Well one thing I don't know though," said Aegis as they followed Drake into the room, "Is what in the world is going on here." "Chance meeting," said Wayne, "The important thing is I don't think they're our enemies right now." "Well the girl I can believe," said Aegis, "But didn't this Drake guy here try to kill you, twice?" "Well yeah," said Wayne, "But I don't think he's in any condition for a third attempt."

"I mean you're brother no ill will at the moment," said Drake as he donned his jacket, strapped on his weapon, and gathered his belongings, "If what you say about Exo and Neo being here is true then my first priority is getting May and me out of here." "Drake," said May, stopping him from exiting the room with a hand on his arm, "Don't you think you should tell them?" "Tell us what," asked Aegis. Drake sighed as he turned to face Wayne and Aegis. "Exo and Neo are also looking for you two and any of your friends who were at the battle of Beacon," said Drake.

"Well that changes things," said Wayne as he thought for a moment. "Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," said Aegis. "Yep," said Wayne, "We're gonna help 'em, whether they like it or not." "Outstanding," said Aegis, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "Is this a one-sided deal," asked Drake. "Well we wouldn't mind if you shared a few secrets about the White Fang presence in Mistral," said Wayne, "If you still have any that is."

"As a matter of fact I do," said Drake as he walked towards the door, "But you gotta help us out of this town first." "Deal," said Wayne as he turned to Aegis, awaiting his response. "Fine, deal," said Aegis as he walked out of the door and into the hallway, "But the first sign of this guy pulling a fast one and my ax is going straight to his head." "Fair enough," said Drake as he walked out of the door, "Now we'd best hurry, Exo and Neo could be here any min-," Drake's sentence was interrupted by the sound of a knife embedding itself in the wall.

"# & #," May swore as she kicked a nearby stretcher up, which was quickly cut in half in midair by a suddenly appearing Exo. "Well what do we have here," said the grinning wolf Faunus as he brandished his black blade, "My current favorite targets all in one place." Everyone drew their weapons and took fighting stances, though Drake was a bit unsteady. In another moment, clicking heels sounded down the other end of the hallway as Neo, in a nurse's outfit, rounded the corner, her trademark sadistic grin on her face. This is gonna be messy, thought Wayne as they all circled up, Aegis and Drake facing Exo and Wayne and May facing Neo.

For a few moments, everyone stood still, then as if by some invisible signal, the fight began.

 **Hello again everyone, sorry for the late update but between work and a minor cold, it's been a bit difficult to work up the time and motivation to write. But here we are now, with the players all assembled as Wayne and Aegis's journey takes a sharp turn down an even more dangerous path. Be sure to check in again as the town of Sol Kaze becomes the fighting ground for six ferocious fighters. Once again, thank you to all my viewers, followers, and reviewers who've helped me to improve my writing and kept me motivated up to this point. 'Til next time.**


	44. No Fighting in the Hospital

**No Fighting in the Hospital**

Sol Kaze Hospital: Now a Fighting Ground

The back door of the hospital was ripped clean off its hinges as May was sent tumbling out after a strong kick from Neo, who had switched back to her original outfit. Wayne swung his sickles at Neo's head, missing one strike then another as Neo dodged and twirled around his strikes before lunging at Wayne's head with the pointed blade of her umbrella. Wayne moved his head to the left and right as he dodged the first couple of jabs, then batted away the next few strikes with his sickles before counter attacking with a few vertical strikes.

But the parasol wielder quickly spins around his strikes before using an expertly aimed strike of her umbrella blade to pin Wayne's left arm to the wall by his sleeve while pulling the short blade out of the bottom of her umbrella in the same fluid motion as she aims a strike at Wayne's throat. Wayne just barely manages to raise his sickle in time to block the strike with the handle of his weapon. Neo's smile widens for a moment before she suddenly looks to her right. A shot rings out in the next instant, forcing the parasol-wielder to lean back quickly to dodge the shot. Wayne, using the momentary distraction, switches his right weapon to SMG form and aims it at Neo, who quickly pulls her umbrella out of the wall as she jumps back to avoid the gun fire.

May attempts another shot at Neo, only for it to be deflected by her target's umbrella. "Move out here Wayne," exclaims May as she fires again to hold Neo off. Wayne adds some of his own SMG fire to the mix as he moves out the back door where he and May would have more room to fight. "What is with this chick," asked May as she fires another shot, "Who picks a fight in a hospital?"

"She enjoys killing," Wayne replies as he peppers the entrance with SMG fire, causing his target's form to suddenly shatter like glass, "Whatever innocence she may've had at one point died a long time ago." "Too bad about that," said May as she scanned the doorway for any sign of the Neapolitan fighter, "I think she has a thing for you." Wayne looks at May with his eyebrow raised and a dumbfounded expression, "What in the, the only 'thing' she's probably got for me is a knife in my-," CRASH! Wayne and May's attention was drawn to the wall near the back entrance as Aegis came smashing through it.

" # $# that teleport thing is getting so old," said Aegis as he looked back towards the hole in the wall he created. In another moment, Drake came leaping out of the hole as well, narrowly avoiding a strike from Exo as he followed after Drake. The mercenary swung his black blade at the retreating cat Faunus, forcing him back until he managed to hook his foot and knock Drake over before swinging at him again with a lethal two-handed vertical strike.

Aegis blocked the strike at the last second with his own formed sword blade and forced Exo back. "Haven't seen that sword blade before," said Exo as he backed up near the hole, "You've actually gotten more creative haven't you bear # #?" "I like to think of it as creatively destructive," said Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon and formed an ice mace. "Been meaning to ask," said Exo as he began pacing along the wall, "What do you get out of helping this guy, he's tried to kill your brother twice."

"And counting this time you've tried to kill me three times," said Aegis, "So at the moment he's less likely to kill me than you are, as for why we're helping him, ask Wayne." "You know that's a great idea," said Exo as he tossed his blade towards Wayne and May.

"Thanks a lot bro," said Wayne as he knocked the blade away, then blocked Exo's next attack as the mercenary teleported to his sword and swung viciously at the half-Faunus. "Sorry," said Aegis as he tried rushing over, only for Neo to appear in a flash of light as she spun and kicked Aegis in the chest, forcing him back a little.

Drake leaped over Aegis, spinning in midair as he swung his blades at Neo, who simply weaved around the blades as she struck at Aegis with her umbrella. Aegis was ready this time, as he blocked with a glass ice mace and counter-attacked by swinging the back end of his weapon at Neo, who leaned back to avoid the blow to her head and then spun away from Aegis as Drake took a couple of swipes at her with his dual blades. Wayne wasn't kidding about her, thought Aegis, she's slippery. The parasol girl simply smiled happily at the situation, after all, it'd been a little while since she'd had a good fight.

Wayne ducked Exo's black blade as he swung his leg around and hit the mercenary in the side of his leg, forcing the mercenary down before Wayne swung his own sickles down. Exo rolled back to avoid Wayne's blade, then whirled around to block one of May's rifle shots. While the shot didn't hit Exo, it managed to knock the blade out of his hands, allowing Wayne an opening for another attack as he charged and swung his sickles in a vertical strike. The attack hit empty air, but Wayne had readied his wires and tossed his left weapon at Exo's sword, pulling on the wire to make it arc just as Exo appeared standing by his sword. The mercenary gave a surprised grunt as the sickle cut across his chest. Wayne shifted his Crescent Fangs to SMG form as he and May opened fire at Exo.

The wolf Faunus spun his sword to deflect the first few shots, nearly losing his grip on his blade when he blocked some of May's shots, before suddenly teleporting away again. "What the," said a confused May as Exo, who'd dropped a knife earlier in the fight, suddenly appeared behind her and swung his sword at her, grazing May's back as the sniper just managed to dodge the blow.

May fell to the ground as Exo was about to swing again, only to jump back to avoid an energy ball of Wayne's semblance. "There it is," said Exo, slowly circling as May got up and regrouped with Wayne, "I know that semblance of yours doesn't take that long to charge so what's the hold up all about?" Wayne didn't answer as he switched his weapons back to sickle form and stood ready. Exo glanced behind him, noting the hospital's open door. "Oh I see," said Exo, a nasty grin crossing his face, "Don't want to blow up any people."

Wayne's eyes narrowed before he reached into his pocket and tossed some keys to May. "May, I've got a little request you may not like," said Wayne. "Oh this should be good," said May as she examined the keys before pocketing them. "Just listen and wait for my signal," said Wayne as Exo began running at them again, "This is where it gets tricky."

This is not good, thought Aegis as he shattered another glass clone of Neo. The elusive fighter had started targeting Drake specifically due to his injuries, forcing Aegis to continually fight on the defensive and whenever he managed to counter attack, she either slipped away or laid a trap with a glass illusion. Worse, Aegis was pretty sure a couple of Drake's wounds had reopened a little as some of the blood had seeped through his shirt. Got to think of something, thought Aegis as he blocked another of Neo's jabs at Drake with a glass armored fist. The blade stuck for a moment, allowing Drake the chance to attempt a stabbing maneuver with both of his blades.

But Neo just twisted her body around, using the embedded umbrella like a lever to yank Aegis off balance and tumbling into Drake with her deceptive strength. Aegis allowed the glass around his fist to shatter as he swung Ursus Cleaver, currently sporting a glass straight blade, at Neo, who flipped backwards and landed a few feet away as Drake and Aegis moved back into fighting positions.

"Got any sort of plan here," asked Drake as he checked a reopened wound on his side. "Offer her ice cream then pounce while she's distracted," offered Aegis. "Any actual plans," asked Drake, a note of irritation in his voice as Neo began to slowly circle to their left, twirling her umbrella as she did so. "Find her weak spot and hit it," replied Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon to fire and created a flaming halberd. "Tell me again how you beat Exo," asked Drake as Neo stopped circling, finally deciding how she wanted to attack, that is until something else drew her attention.

One of May's sniper shots suddenly came speeding towards Neo, who barely managed to dodge the bullet as she spun around and opened her umbrella to block the next couple of shots. Using the distraction, Aegis held up his hand and generated a multitude of glass shards which he sent flying at Neo. The nimble fighter was quick, though, and flipped her umbrella around to block the incoming barrage. While she was pinned down by the barrage, May came circling around from the left, firing more shots at Neo's unprotected back. The shots impacted against the petite girl's back and shoulder, causing her to wince before her form suddenly shattered.

As May was moving towards Aegis and Drake, one of Exo's knives came flying at May, but was destroyed by an energy ring created by Wayne's semblance. Exo swore as he tried running past Wayne, but was headed off as Wayne quickly moved in front of him. "You're faster than that little brother of yours," said Exo, "And a bit better at finding weak spots." "It's not too hard when you keep using the same trick over and over in quick succession," said Wayne as he joined his sickles into their blade-staff form, taking a defensive stance as he did so.

"Well I'll just have to try a couple other tricks," said Exo as he pulled out a few more knives before charging at Wayne, scattering the knives as he went. Just before he reached Wayne, Exo dropped his last knife and kicked it, sending the knife flying towards Wayne's face. Wayne deflected the knife, turning to where it landed. But Exo didn't teleport, but kept charging at Wayne with a vicious swing of his sword. Wayne just barely managed to turn back in time to block Exo's horizontal strike as the mercenary kicked Wayne in the side before teleporting to the knife he had thrown. But Wayne was ready this time as he ducked the blade and released a blast of his semblance from his staff into the ground between Exo's feet.

The mercenary was sent flying backwards several feet onto his back, the impact temporarily dazing him. "Now Aegis!" Yelled Wayne. Exo regained his senses in time to see Aegis Ursario coming down with an ice-made morning star aimed at his head. At the last second, Neo appeared in a flash of light as she used her umbrella to divert Aegis's weapon to the side as it smashed the ground near Exo's head. Aegis moved back as Neo lashed out with a kick aimed at his head, the tip of her boot grazing Aegis's nose as he regrouped with Wayne. "May told me the plan and I'm gonna say this now," said Aegis, "I really don't like it." "Sorry it was the best plan I could come up with on short notice," replied Wayne, "Now on three."

Aegis spun the cylinder on his weapon, creating a glowing shield of glass as Wayne charged up his semblance. Exo and Neo readied themselves, preparing for whatever attack the two brothers were about to attempt. "Three!" Yelled the two brothers as Wayne swung his semblance-charged weapon into Aegis's glowing glass shield, causing it to shatter as a massive amount of light was released. "Oh not this #$#%# again!" exclaimed Exo, as the light grew too bright to look upon until it engulfed the whole area.

 **And there we have it, a cliff hanger. Feel free to let me know if I'm getting better at those. As for next time, let's just say team WA and their new friends are gonna need to find a way out of Sol Kaze, and for more reasons than just Neo and Exo, and is it tied to Wayne's new ability? Thank you all for your reviews, follows, and views up to this point and here's hoping I'll see you all again next chapter. 'Til next time.**


	45. The Black Aura Reappears

**The Black Aura Reappears**

Sol Kaze: Currently a Danger Zone

The light faded as Exo, having jumped to a nearby roof to avoid a possible blast, was finally able to see the surrounding area. Figures, he thought, all four of them are gone, though by the looks of those scorch marks on that wall, it was a good thing we moved. Exo seethed for a moment as he sheathed his sword on his back and kneeled down, trying to get a closer look at the area below him. In another moment, Neo landed lightly next to him, the look on her face quite neutral now which, to those who knew her a little, meant she was either a little disappointed or just unsure of something. This time it was the former.

"It seems they've split up," Observed Exo, noting footprints in some of the scorch marks on the ground. Neo took a look herself before pointing in one direction, then the other. "Yes we're gonna split up too, but first," said Exo as he pulled out one of his knives and a small, silver, cylinder-like device and handed them to Neo, "I know you can take any of them one-on-one, but if you happen to run into two or more of them, best use this flare to signal me and drop this knife so I can teleport to it."

Neo gave a smile and nodded as she slipped the items into a pocket in her jacket. "Oh and feel free to make them suffer if you just bump into one of them," said Exo as he turned to leave. Neo nodded once again as she happily skipped away before hopping gracefully off the roof, her mind already thinking of several ways she could inflict pain on her unfortunate prey.

Town Streets

Peaceful and quiet, Wayne thought to himself as he rounded a corner and crossed one of the streets in the town, intentionally knocking over a sack of flour by a small grocer as he did so, me and my big mouth. Continuing on into another alleyway, Wayne risked glancing behind himself before moving out of the alley and down a narrow street, heading closer and closer to the edge of the town. If this plan of mine works like I hope it does, thought Wayne, May and Drake should've already met back up and be getting to where they need to be and Aegis should be close enough behind to help out in case they run into any problems.

Wayne stopped for a moment as he leaned against the outside wall of a small shop, taking his time to breathe a little and get his bearings as he looked around. As for me, he thought, if that trail of over turned barrels and sacks I left was noticeable enough then I should be getting company pretty soon. Wayne checked his weapons, loading up some specialized lighting dust rounds when the sudden movement of a shadow on a nearby rooftop drew his attention as he looked up to see Neo sitting there, twirling her umbrella as she smiled mischievously at Wayne.

Or now, he thought as he pulled out his wolf mask. "Jeez that was fast, I'd hoped I'd have at least another couple minutes," said Wayne, donning the greyish blue wolf mask and readying his weapons, "If I recall our last encounter at Beacon correctly, we've got something of a score to settle, so let's play." Wayne's opponent didn't need any encouragement as she leapt off the roof, her thirst for blood practically permeating the air around them as their fight in the little town resumed.

Sol Kaze: Close to Town Center

I really don't like this idea, thought Aegis as he leapt from one roof top to another, Wayne giving his motorcycle keys to a girl he doesn't really know who hangs out with a guy whose tried to kill him on two occasions while he tries to draw one or both of those psychos away by himself. Aegis stopped to get a better view of the two he was following, keeping a far enough distance from May and Drake that he wouldn't be spotted, but close enough that he could get to them if something happened. Well at least he let me keep an eye on those two, he thought.

Some movement on another nearby roof alerted Aegis to the presence of one of their pursuers. Aegis pulled his weapon off his back as he turned to face the oncoming threat, straining his eyes and ears for any possible surprises. As he watched, Exo came into view as he hopped from one rooftop to another, heading directly for May and Drake. Good, it's just him for now, thought Aegis as he started moving along the roof tops, guess that means Wayne's plan, however stupid it is, is working.

Now this is unusual, Exo almost blurted out as he landed on a rooftop right above where two of his quarry were, following behind them slowly so as not to alert them. I might not know those Ursario guys well, but they don't seem like the type to just cut and run when they're protecting someone, unless. The sound of a flame igniting reached Exo's ears as the mercenary instinctively rolled to the side, avoiding the end of a flaming hammer which created a cracked and smoking hole where he'd been hardly a moment ago. Drake and May drew their weapons as they looked to the roof tops where Aegis and Exo were. "Go!" yelled Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon and formed a stone spear, "I got Mr. Merc."

May and Drake looked reluctant at first, not moving an inch. Exo tried using their moment of indecision to run past Aegis, drawing his sword as he did so, but was quickly intercepted as Aegis moved in front of him, swinging his spear at the Wolf-Faunus's head. Exo brought his sword up and blocked the blow as he and Aegis tried overpowering each other by strength. "For the love of Remnant get going!" exclaimed Aegis as he shoved Exo back a few feet.

May and Drake still looked reluctant, but finally turned around and kept going with May having to support Drake a little as they continued towards the town square. "You sure you should let them go," said Exo as he rested his blade on his shoulder for a minute, "You'd stand a better chance with three against one." "I've taken you before," said Aegis as he adjusted his fighting stance a little, "And I've only gotten better since then." Exo chuckled at that statement as he took his blade off his shoulder, "Good, that means pay back is gonna be even more fun!" The wolf Faunus yelled the last word as he charged at Aegis, his blade poised to take his head.

Sol Kaze Back alley

Wayne's sickles cut through the air, creating slash marks in the walls as his Neapolitan opponent moved and danced around his blades before catching Wayne's right arm with both hands and twisting her body to throw Wayne out of the alley and into the street next to a lightly crowded coffee shop. Wayne managed to land on his feet, sliding a short way as he did so before switching his weapons to SMG form and firing at Neo.

The girl simply opened her umbrella to block the shots as she had so many times before, but this time she was taken by surprise as the electrified dust rounds impacted against her umbrella, the shock causing her to drop her umbrella for a split second. But the girl didn't panic as she managed to twist and lower her body, hooking her foot onto her umbrella's handle as she did so and tossed it into the air with an eccentric swing of her leg. Then, to avoid Wayne's continuous barrage, she cartwheeled and flipped to the left, stopping the moment she was in front of the coffee shop.

Wayne stopped firing, noticing that some of the patrons had, instead of running, taken cover behind some of the tables and chairs. Neo simply smiled knowingly as she reached up and caught her slowly descending umbrella. A look of quiet anger crossed Wayne's face as he switched his weapons back to sickle form and charged, swiping at his opponent's midsection and legs.

His target simply shifted out of the way of his first few strikes, raised her leg to avoid a sweeping kick from Wayne, then batted away his last strike with her umbrella before jumping and spinning, aiming a kick for Wayne's head. But Wayne was ready for the move this time as he shot forward, taking the brunt of the kick on his shoulder as he grabbed hold of his quarry, his momentum sending them both crashing through the coffee shop's large glass window and onto a table which collapsed as the two rolled back up to face each other.

"Sorry about this folks," said Wayne as he caught Neo's umbrella with his sickles, "Ya'll mind vacating for a bit." The patrons of the coffee shop didn't need any encouragement as they quickly ran out of the doors, some knocking over chairs and a table as they went. Neo freed her parasol from Wayne's sickles before kicking a chair at Wayne, who managed to bat it away before counter attacking with some slashes and kicks of his own. Neo reacted quickly as she blocked and dodged Wayne's strikes.

At one point, Wayne missed and embedded both of his weapons in a nearby table while his enemy whirled around behind him and tried slashing Wayne's back. But Wayne twisted around to the left, lifting up the whole table to block the strike. The table was sliced in half by Neo's parasol while Wayne managed to swing the rest of the table back the other way, causing it to shatter against Neo's raised arms, freeing his sickles and causing her to fall to the side before she rolled back up, a momentary look of what might've been surprise on her face for a moment before she resumed her stance and her usual demeanor.

Near Town Square

At the same moment Wayne and Neo's fight was taking place, Aegis and Exo were dueling on another roof top, as Aegis's skill and use of his semblance had managed to keep Exo from getting away so far, or so he thought. "You have picked up a few tricks," said Exo as he blocked a blow from a large, curved ice sword.

"More than I can say for you," said Aegis as he pushed Exo back and started swinging the large blade in a figure-eight pattern as Exo was forced to move back while blocking, "You're seeming more like a one trick pony than a wolf." "Am I," responded Exo as he blocked another blow before intentionally releasing his grip on his sword, causing Aegis to stumble a little as Exo decked him in the head with his fist. Aegis staggered back as he swung Ursus Cleaver at the mercenary, who teleported out of the way and back to his sword, quickly picking it up and swinging it at Aegis's right shoulder.

But Aegis managed to generate a glass shoulder pad which took the brunt of the hit as the sword sunk into the glass, becoming too stuck for Exo to remove as he struggled to free the blade. Aegis smirked before upper cutting Exo, knocking the mercenary back while leaving his sword, which soon clattered to the ground as Aegis's shoulder pad shattered and dispersed. "Alright," said Exo as he rubbed his jaw before pulling out two knives, "Try this formation!" Aegis spun the cylinder on his weapon, forming a flaming double-sided ax. Exo leaped up and brought both blades down against Aegis, sparks flying as they raked across the flaming blade. Aegis countered with a horizontal swing of his own, which Exo ducked before lunging at Aegis's head with his right blade. Aegis moved his head to the side and swung his ax as the blade passed by his head.

It happened in an instant, Exo had let go of his knife the moment he lunged at Aegis allowing the blade to pass behind him as Exo teleported to it and used the knife to slash Aegis across the back. Aegis winced in pain as he swung his ax around quickly, managing to knock one of Exo's knives out of his hand before swinging again. Just like before, Exo teleported away to avoid the blow and appeared at his sword, picking it up to swing a vicious two handed blow.

Aegis brought his weapon up to block it, the force of the clash causing the blade to crack, making it unstable as the heat emanating from it started turning part of Exo's own blade red hot. "You know the problem with unstable fire constructs is?" asked Aegis as he and Exo continued their blade lock. "Yeah what?" asked Exo. "You can't hit anything more than once," Aegis replied as he shoved the cracked blade of his weapon downward next to Exo's feet. The blade exploded in a shower of glass shards and heat with Exo getting more of the blast as both fighters were thrown from the roof.

Back at the Now Ruined Coffee Shop

Does this girl ever get tired, thought Wayne as he avoided a kick which shattered one of the few remaining chairs in the shop before striking back with a semblance charged slash attack. Neo managed to redirect his arm, though, and the blast wound up destroying half the sales counter in a spray of wood splinters and debris. Using the momentary distraction, Neo jabbed with her parasol's main blade while also drawing her short blade.

Wayne blocked the first strike, then leaned back as he caught the second strike, going into a backwards roll as he brought his foot up against Neo's chest and sent her rolling through a pair of gray doors into the shop's kitchen. Wayne rolled back up and followed after her through the doors, ducking as a pot flew at his head.

Neo proceeded to throw an assortment of knives and other cutting utensils at Wayne until the rack hanging above the counter was empty. "You're gonna have to do better than that," said Wayne, deflecting the last utensil as he stepped into the kitchen. His elusive opponent simply smiled as she pulled out a large handful of fire and energy dust crystals and tossed them onto a burner which had been left on in the confusion of everyone escaping the shop, then held her blade over one of the crystals. "You sure you want to do that," asked Wayne as he adjusted his stance, ready to run forward, or jump back, "Set all of that dust off at once and you'll probably take us both out."

Neo simply smiled and nodded as she tilted her head towards the corner next to her. Wayne glanced over as his eyes widened in shock. Seated there in the corner was a little, frightened, trembling girl with blonde hair.

"You little-," Wayne started to say as he stepped forward, before Neo pressed her blade down on the crystal, causing it to crack slightly. Wayne stopped advancing before he spoke. "Alright," Wayne said with an angry sigh as he held up his hands, "What do you want?" Neo gestured for Wayne to drop his weapons, which, after turning them into SMG form and placing them both in his right hand, Wayne did so as he placed both weapons on the kitchen's counter. But as he did so, Wayne charged some of his semblance into the wire in his left sleeve and swung it outward towards Neo.

It all happened in just a few moments. The wire knocked the blade out of Neo's hand as the force of the energy within the wire caused her to stumble backwards. Seizing the opportunity, Wayne grabbed his weapons and fired while he moved around the counter, forcing Neo to move towards the back door of the kitchen and out of the line of fire as Wayne managed to make it to the girl who was still curled up in the corner.

"Don't worry," said Wayne, "I'm gonna get you-." The moment Wayne touched the girl, she shattered into a thousand glass shards, turning out to be nothing more than an illusion. She covered up the scent with the lit burner, Wayne realized as he whirled around to see Neo smiling triumphantly as she tossed some ground up fire dust towards the burner. ## #, Wayne thought as he rushed for the door, the dust igniting in a large explosion just as he reached the door.

Sol Kaze Town Square

"Okay we're ready to go," said May as she inserted the key into Wayne's bike, "Now for the next part of the plan." "Assuming they're both still alive," said Drake as he leaned against a nearby wall, "I still say we shouldn't have stopped." "You're wound was reopened and you were bleeding out again," replied May as she started the bike, "If I hadn't patched you up right then we might not even be having this conversation right now."

"Well either way you need to get going," said Drake, "I'll take the other bike." "That Aegis guy is probably gonna get mad at you for hotwiring his bike," said May as she shifted Wayne's bike into gear. "Well he can get mad at me when we're in relative safe-."

Drake's sentence was cut short as the sound of a distant explosion drew their attention as a small pillar of smoke rose in another part of the town. "We need to get going," exclaimed Drake as he went to work on Aegis's bike. May nodded as she shifted the bike into gear.

Sol Kaze Streets

Freakin' A, thought Exo as he slowly rolled up to a kneeling position, trying to shake the nausea from his head. That Aegis guy may not be the smartest but he's got some stones, when was the last time I fought a guy willing to get caught in his own explosion to win a fight? Exo took a moment to assess his condition, noting that his aura was extremely low now. Done way more teleporting today than I planned too, thought Exo as he grabbed his sword which had landed nearby, I might actually have to consider the fall back option.

As he thought this, a shadow suddenly loomed overhead. Exo tried to bring his sword up, only for an armored foot to slam down on the flat of the blade, pinning it to the ground. "Try collecting your payment now!" yelled Aegis as he swung down with a glass sword. At the last instant, Exo teleported away, sword and all as the glass blade shattered against the ground.

"Son of a # ##, $ ## ," yelled Aegis as he angrily stomped on the ground where Exo had just been, "Figures he'd have one more teleporting trick." Aegis boiled in rage for another minute until he was finally calm enough to think somewhat properly. I'll get 'em next time, he thought, right now I need to regroup with Wayne and the others. "Drop the pole weapon and put your hands up," said a commanding voice as a handful of men, and a couple women in military looking uniforms moved out of one of the alleyways and surrounded Aegis with their rifles trained on him.

"Oh this figures," said Aegis as he jabbed his weapon into the ground, "The village militia finally gets back from patrol, late I might add, and now they're making all the wrong assumptions." "Our Eastern patrol isn't reporting in and now we've gotten reports of you and others wrecking the town, what should we assume?" Asked one of the soldiers, the Captain it seemed. "Well for starters," said Aegis, "There are only two actual trouble makers and as for your Eastern patrol well it was probably-." The howl of a Beowolf answered the rest of Aegis's sentence.

Burning Coffee Shop

That was NOT pleasant, thought Wayne as he rolled over on the ground, a pounding ache in his head. His aura had taken the brunt of the blast but between that and all the fighting it was way closer to empty now and probably wouldn't protect him from any major attacks, and that wasn't even counting the fact he currently felt like he'd just been put throw a human-sized, heat-infused, blender. To top it all off, Wayne's weapon that he usually held in his left hand was on the ground several feet from him.

Wayne shook his head a little to clear up the ringing in his ears in time to hear light footsteps approaching. Wayne tried to lift his weapon up, only for a blade to pin down his right arm. Wayne stifled a yell as the blade went through his arm, as his attacker pulled another blade out of her parasol and, holding it in a reverse grip, brought it down towards Wayne's eye. Acting quickly, Wayne reached up and caught the blade with his left hand, holding it hardly an inch above his eye as he tried to think of something, anything to get him out of this situation while Neo placed her knee on his chest, making it harder for him to wriggle away, as she tilted her head with a sadistic look crossing her face.

Is there nothing else I can do, thought Wayne, I can use my semblance to blast her off but then what, I can't use full power blasts in an area with flimsy buildings and a lot of people so I have to outfight her. Wayne tried forcing the blade away from his face, but Neo only pushed down harder, leaving them at a stalemate. I guess I have no choice, thought Wayne, didn't think I'd be using this power so soon.

Wayne closed his eyes and concentrated as he looked within himself, the darkest parts of himself. "You're fun to play with," a small voice suddenly said, so quietly that Wayne wasn't even sure he heard it at first, "So much so, I almost forgot one of the reasons I came looking for you and your friends." Wayne ignored the voice as he began seeing images go through his head, images of hard times in his life, past confrontations, his insecurities, and last of all, Beacon and the ones responsible for it's down fall, the ones who'd caused him and his friends so much pain.

Pain, sorrow, and anger welled up inside Wayne like a wellspring, threatening to overflow. But Wayne controlled it, directed it and turned it into a source of energy which he drew power from. "I would like to ask one little question," the quiet voice from before said, "What happened to Roman Torchwick?"

Wayne opened his eyes at the last comment, his face suddenly becoming calm. "You want me to tell you what happened to that gangster," said Wayne, his voice taking on a calm but menacing tone as a black mist began distorting the air around his body, "How about this." Wayne built up some of his semblance and released a blast from his chest which sent Neo flying off of him. Neo landed and rolled up near a stack of barrels as Wayne got up from the ground, ignoring the pain in his arm as he pulled the umbrella out and threw it at Neo like a spear.

Neo moved aside just in time as the main part of her parasol punched a hole through multiple barrels and embedded itself in the wall of a nearby building. "You can ask that cane-twirling piece of trash what happened to him," Wayne said as he charged his semblance to his sickle and left hand, "After I send you to him!" Wayne sent out two crescent shaped blasts, which were now covered in the same misty black aura as the rest of Wayne's body, in the form of an 'X'.

Neo just managed to pull her parasol out of the building and slide under the middle of the blast as much of the left side of the building behind her was obliterated. Wayne didn't plan on giving her any time to recover as he came down slashing at her with the sickle he still had. But the image of Neo he slashed shattered, leaving nothing more than a large slash mark in the ground from Wayne's Crescent Fang.

Nice try, thought Wayne as he strained his now even more enhanced senses, catching his opponent's scent even despite the flaming debris nearby. Wayne moved his head out of the way as a kick came flying out of nowhere. Wayne blocked her follow up stab with her parasol and caught her next kick as he spun around, yanking Neo off of her feet as he swung her around once, twice, then three times before throwing her into the air.

Wayne charged up his semblance as soon as he released her then shot out an orb-shaped blast at his currently airborne target. Neo managed to open her parasol, reinforcing it with some kind of glass coating as Wayne's attack impacted against it, pushing her through the air, out of the area and outside of the town limits.

Not bad, thought Wayne as he looked at his hand for a moment, observing how the mist slowly flowed from it, casting an eerie shroud, like the shroud that surrounded a Grimm. Certainly more menacing than I expected, but still quite useful, maybe I can actually remove a problem now. With that thought at the back of his mind, Wayne walked over and picked up his other Crescent Fang, before running and leaping, his enhanced speed and strength allowing him to cover a much greater distance as he quickly made his way to the edge of the town.

Near the Town Outskirts

"I still don't trust this guy," said one of the soldiers as they and Aegis ran to one of the town entrances, "I mean he whips up some half believable story about him and three friends being chased down by a black-sword wielding Wolf Faunus and a Neapolitan Girl with a parasol and we just let him come along with us?" "He says he fights Grimm," said the Captain, "Right now we could use an extra hand, and you can keep an eye on him if he's fighting with us."

"I am right here ya know," said Aegis as they rounded a corner and arrived at the town's Eastern entrance where Grimm were starting to emerge from the forest, drawn by the sudden confusion and panic of the townspeople, "And it ain't a story, we really are being chased by a black sword douche and a girl with a parasol." "Oh please," said the soldier from before, "How is that story in any way believable?" Aegis was about to answer, until a familiar figure came flying into view, slowing her landing with her parasol. "I don't believe it," said the soldier, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Told ya so," said Aegis as another figure came flying into view, his landing causing some cracks in the ground. "Is that a Grimm," asked one of the soldiers as they all raised their rifles towards the figure as he drew up to his full, surprisingly average, height. "Wait don't," said Aegis, finally recognizing the figure's coat and mask as he pushed the Captain's rifle down. Aegis stared for a moment before he spoke, "Wayne, is that you?"

"Oh hey Aegis," said Wayne, turning towards him and the soldiers for a moment, not seeming to notice the black mist coming off his body, "I'll be with you in a bit, got to deal with this irritation first." Wayne turned back towards Neo who, for the first time in Aegis's memory had a look of pure confusion on her face. In another moment, one of the beowolves leaped at Wayne, only to be sliced in an instant as Wayne turned towards the rest of the oncoming Grimm, forming his weapons into a blade staff as he did so. "Weapons up men!" Said the Captain as the Grimm approached. But before they reached the town entrance, Wayne produced a half-moon shaped blast, destroying the first line of Grimm in a shower of blood and body parts.

"What the heck was that," asked one of the soldiers after a moment. "Well get over here!" Shouted Wayne, "There's still more of them coming!" The soldiers and Aegis snapped out of their stupors as they charged towards the town entrance, firing their weapons at the oncoming Grimm. Neo, having no other option, began slicing through any Grimm which approached.

Hidden Location in the Woods

Exo was breathing heavily as he rested against the frame of his car, which he'd hidden among some thick foliage with a camouflage net. I was closer to my limit than I thought, Exo mused, all those teleports then a long distance teleport to my emergency mark on my car in one day, oh yeah and getting half-fried by an explosion. After catching his breath, Exo pulled the camouflage netting off the car as he pulled out his scroll. I really hate doing this, but given the number of unexpected surprises today we need to regroup and come up with a new plan.

Back at the Eastern Entrance

Neo kicked away another beowolf as her scroll buzzed. Taking a moment to look at it, she saw it was Exo calling for a retreat. Given all these surprises today, this was one of the few times that retreat seemed like a good idea to her. As more Grimm charged in, Neo sheathed her blade back into her umbrella and disappeared in a flash of light. The remaining Grimm turned their attention to the group of soldiers and two huntsmen in training as the fight was reaching its conclusion.

Wayne cut through a few more Grimm as he, Aegis, and the soldiers managed to finish off the remaining Grimm. "She got away," Wayne said out loud as Aegis walked up beside him. "Maybe, but we got that May girl and panther prick out of here, so that's something." "Where are they right now anyway?" asked Wayne as the mist around his body began to dissipate a little.

As if on cue, both May and Drake came driving around the corner and stopped at the entrance to the town. "Sorry we're late," said May as they put the kickstands down on the bikes, "Between getting Drake patched up, hotwiring Aegis's bike and trying to navigate narrow streets, it was tough getting here."

"Wait you hotwired my bike?" asked Aegis, his eye twitching in slight irritation. "We thought it'd be better to have two bikes running for the second part of the plan," said Drake.

"Which if I recall how I explained it to May, the second part of the plan was to get out of the town and circle around until you found a sniping spot," said Wayne. "With the way you guys were moving around, and the possibility of civilian casualties, we thought just picking you guys up and getting the heck out of here was a better idea," Stated May, "Oh and what's with the creepy mist coming off of you Wayne?"

Another beowolf howled in the distance, drawing Wayne's attention before he answered. "For the moment it's what's gonna lead the other Grimm away from this town, and another reason to get the heck out of here," said Wayne as he moved towards his bike. "Wait you're just gonna leave," said the Captain as he and the rest of his men stirred uneasily, glancing at the forest where the sounds of approaching Grimm could be heard.

"You see this aura around me right," said Wayne, "long story short, nearby Grimm will be attracted to it, I'm doing you all a favor by leaving." "That and if me and her stay," said Drake, indicating himself and May, "You'll probably have some White Fang soldiers knocking at your door before long."

"And I just don't want anyone else driving my bike," said Aegis. The rest of the soldiers turned to the captain who, after giving it some serious thought finally lamented. "Just get those monsters away from the town," said the Captain. Wayne nodded as he and Aegis got on their bikes and gunned the engines, driving off with May and Drake in tow. Just as Wayne said, the Grimm followed his fading black aura for a few miles before it fully dispersed. After driving for a little longer, and pulling a few unorthodox maneuvers, they finally lost the Grimm.

 **Hello everyone, sorry for the delay, between daily life and a bit of writer's block about how I wanted to present this chapter, it wound up taking more time to get this out here than I thought it would. The length of the chapter is mostly because breaking it up into more chapters seemed (to me anyway) like it would disrupt the flow a bit. That being said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and even more, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've continued to read this story (or gotten this far if you're a new reader). As for all of the developments in the chapter like Wayne's new ability and where they've wound up now, fear not, for Salem shall shed some light on the lineage of the Ursario line next chapter. 'Til next time.**


	46. When Darkness Takes Notice

**When Darkness Takes Notice**

The Castle in the Grimmscape

Cinder stood next to the crystal-made meeting table, breathing heavily as she fought against the pain that wretched girl with the red hood had caused her. It wasn't as bad as it had been at first, but it was still agonizing. "Good," said the white-skinned witch who sat at the head of the table, "Force it into submission with your will, you are the one in control here, not it." Cinder grit her teeth as she concentrated harder, trying to force down the pain which stubbornly remained.

Emerald and Mercury stood to the side by one of the rooms many large windows, watching silently as they kept their eyes on Cinder while also trying to avoid gazing directly at the witch. It had become a common scene over the last few months, them standing to the side, only able to do something every now and then as they watched their mistress try to overcome the crippling effects of the silver eyes. It honestly broke Emerald's heart, seeing her once proud, confident mistress reduced to a scarred, one-eyed woman who couldn't hardly speak.

A strange, but familiar clicking sound broke Emerald from her thoughts as a floating orb covered in bone fragments with dangling tentacles and an ominous blinking yellow light suddenly came floating into the room through the large wooden door. Emerald had come to learn that it was called a Seer, a strange type of Grimm which could be used for viewing events from around the world and a communications tool for giving orders to the other Grimm. But whatever it was for, it creeped Emerald and Mercury out big time, and it was why they found themselves standing by the window instead of the door.

The Seer floated over to where the white-skinned witch was sitting, making a few more clicking sounds as the woman gazed into the orb, a look of intrigue crossing her face. "Now this is an unexpected development," said the Witch before directing her gaze toward Emerald. "Child," she said as she beckoned Emerald to come closer. "Y-yes mistress Salem," said Emerald shakily as she approached, shifting uneasily under her gaze. "I recall that you befriended a sickle wielder during your mission at Beacon, what was his name?" Asked Salem.

"You mean Wayne Ursario mam?" asked Emerald, surprised to be saying that name again, especially to Salem of all people. "Ursario," said Salem, stroking her chin in thought, "Tell me, did he ever mention the name De Wolfe at all during any of your conversations with him?" "He once told me that his father's side of the family had the last name De Wolfe, but I didn't think it was all that important at the time," said Emerald. "And at any point, did he tell you or show you an ability called the 'Aura Shadow'?" asked Salem.

"The Aura Shadow," repeated Emerald, "No he never used a phrase like that, he liked keeping the limits of his abilities a secret, though." "Did you ever observe black mist coming from his body at any point," asked Salem. "I don't think-," Emerald began to answer before a memory flashed through her mind, "Wait, there was an instant at the battle of Beacon, I had just taken a pretty good hit so I thought my vision was blurry, but for a moment I could've sworn that some sort of weird smoke or mist was coming off of him when he was walking away."

"Unfortunately what you saw was quite real," said Salem as she turned her gaze back to the orb of the Seer, "I felt it once before during the Battle of Beacon, but it was so short-lived that even I thought I might be imagining things." Curiosity got the best of Emerald as she glanced at the orb as well, seeing a figure in a grayish blue coat with several stitches and a gray wolf mask covering his face tearing through multiple Grimm with surprising speed and power. "What is that around his body," asked Emerald as she noticed the black mist surrounding the figure's form. "You could say it is his pain, sorrow, and rage manifested into a physical form for combat," replied Salem, "What you are looking at right now is an ancient ability that can only be awakened by an aura ritual known as the Aura Shadow, an ability that I thought was more or less lost to the ages, save for those few who know about it in a historic sense, but to think there are still some that know how to use it."

"Okay I'm a bit lost," said Mercury, walking over to get a better look at what was on the orb, "You're saying he's turning his emotions into that black mist to fight?" "While the black mist is intimidating and the very reason for the name 'Aura Shadow'," replied Salem, "It is merely a byproduct of the ability, you see what really happens is the user is channeling the negative emotions from the dark side of their soul, allowing them enhanced physical abilities, senses, an intensified aura and a stronger semblance, for a short time anyway."

"Great, so not only does his little brother have a rage mode," said Mercury, "But now dog helmet guy's got some sort of black aura that makes him stronger too, outstanding." "Do not fret," Said Salem, "By the looks of it he's not fully mastered the ability, and as fortune would have it he's encountered Drake Beller in Mistral." Cinder signaled Emerald, as she leaned down to hear what Cinder had to say. After listening for a moment, Emerald stood back up and turned to Salem nervously. "She wants to know," Emerald said nervously, "What should we do about them?"

"As of this moment, both Exo and Neo are already on their trail," said Salem, "But to be on the safe side, contact Taurus and get an update on their progress, send White Fang reinforcements if necessary, if we strike now while they're weakened we should be able to deal with them before they become a possible threat."

Salem waved her hand as she finished speaking, prompting the seer to float away as everyone else nodded in agreement. Emerald spared one final glance at the fading image of Wayne on the orb, feeling a strange anxiety at the surprisingly formidable presence he was currently projecting. I wonder, she thought, how much of that pain and anger radiating from you now was caused by me, heck after all this time what do you remember of me besides hate and pain?

Large Abandoned Town

Wayne's eyes fluttered open as he tried to clear the fog from his head, quickly noticing that his mask, coat, and weapons were in a pile right next to him. His body ached as he tried moving up to a sitting position, taking in his surroundings as he did so. "Take it easy there Wayne," came Aegis's voice from the corner of the room, "You got a bit wobbly after we got away from the Grimm." "How wobbly we talkin'?" asked Wayne as he rubbed his head, his eyes finally clearing as he took in his surroundings, noting that they were in what looked like a rundown motel room of sorts with a single mattress, some chairs and what may have once been a table for holding a lamp.

"You collapsed shortly after we got to the edge of this little abandoned town," said Drake, who'd been sitting in the other corner, keeping silent until now, "You've been out since yesterday." "Yeah that sounds about right," said Wayne as he reached for his weapons and began checking them over, "What about you guys, any big injuries, or more injuries in Drake's case." "I got a couple of good cuts and some burns that are healing right now," replied Aegis as he showed Wayne a spot on his arm with some burnt flesh, "But between my aura and May's medical work, they'll be good as new in a day or so."

"As for me," said Drake, "I didn't sustain any extra injuries, per se, but the ones I already have are gonna need another couple of days to heal, even with my aura, so I'm not gonna be at one hundred percent for a bit." "What about you May," asked Wayne as he noticed the girl's scent before she walked in, "Anything serious."

"I'll live," replied May as she walked in and set her rifle against the wall, "But that psycho with the parasol got me pretty good a few times." May emphasized her point by rubbing a spot on her cheek were a bandage was. "Yeah she's a lot stronger than she looks," said Wayne as he took a look where he'd been stabbed in his right arm, noting that it had nearly healed completely. "You probably had it worse than me," said May, "After you were crazy enough to take her on alone I'm surprised you got out with practically no injury, or do we have that black aura of yours to thank?"

Wayne didn't answer for a moment as Aegis glanced at Drake, a serious look in his eyes. "I'm gonna go keep watch," said Drake, catching on to the situation as he grabbed his weapon and headed out of the room. Wayne waited until he was sure Drake was out of ear shot before he answered. "Yeah that ability enhances many things, physical abilities, senses and my aura's protective and healing properties," Wayne finally said, "But it also has its drawbacks."

"Well I can already guess two, given how exhausted you were after using it and the fact that all those nearby Grimm followed us until your body stopped producing the black mist," Said May, "But I doubt you'll tell me the others."

"Sorry," replied Wayne, "Me and Aegis will do everything we can to protect you two from Exo and the rest of the White Fang, but you have to understand me and Drake have had some less than pleasant encounters." Wayne emphasized his point by holding up his left arm where Drake had scarred him. "Yeah, he and Aegis told me about that," said May, "Heck, Aegis here wouldn't allow either of us in the room with you unless he was there too."

"Hey, the guy tried to kill ya twice," said Aegis, "If not for May vouching for him, very passionately I might add, I wouldn't have even let him in the same building as you." "That reminds me," said Wayne, "Do you really have any info on the White Fang in this region?" "Oh yeah I almost forgot," said Aegis as he pulled out Wayne's scroll and tossed it to him, "Did some negotiating, half the info now and the other half after we get to Haven academy."

"Heh, negotiating," Wayne repeated as he glanced at some of the files that had been uploaded to his scroll before returning it to his pocket, "You make us sound like mercenaries, we would've helped even if you'd been lying about the info." May laughed a little at that statement before she spoke. "I know you would've," said May, "Helping others is a pretty universal lesson taught in all four of the huntsman academies, even in a place like Vacuo, but considering everything that's happened it only seemed fair that you got something out of this ordeal."

"That reminds me," said Aegis, "Weren't you a part of that team from Shade academy at the Vytal Festival, team BRNZ I think it was." "Yep," answered May, "We didn't get far though, your friends on team JNPR made sure of that." "Well you win some you lose some," said Wayne, "Though I am curious what your team thinks of you running around with a known fugitive?"

"Oh well I kind of left out the part about him being a fugitive," replied May sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, "I mainly just told them that I wanted to find out the real reason for the attack on Beacon, and more importantly, I told them that I had to follow my heart." "Follow your, oh I get," said Wayne with a slight smirk as he glanced at the door that Drake had walked out of.

"Get what," asked Aegis, in slight confusion. "As for why Beacon was attacked, well we can fill in a couple of the blanks, but we're still looking for answers ourselves," Wayne continued as if he hadn't heard Aegis. "Well we got enough supplies to last us a few days and with some of the injuries we sustained we're gonna be here for a bit, so we may as well spend some time comparing notes." "Yeah but first," said Aegis, "What do you mean by 'I get it' Wayne?" "So here's what we've found out so far," said Wayne, intentionally ignoring Aegis's statement. "Dad gum it Wayne!" Exclaimed Aegis as May and Wayne laughed.

A Mountainous Cave in Mistral

Unbelievable, thought Exo as he held an ice pack to his head, I guess that's karma for ya, being lucky enough to get three of the people who he currently hated most in the world together only to have them pull a few fast ones and slip through his, and his partners, fingers. Now here he was, sitting in his car alongside Neo as the two nursed their wounds and tried to come up with a better plan of attack. Exo himself had sustained some pretty good bruises, one of which was on his throbbing head, and a few burns from that painful little explosion trick the younger Ursario brother had pulled off.

As for Neo, she had gotten off with a few scratches which would ordinarily not be much of a concern, except for the fact that this was Neo, Exo could hardly remember the last time someone without full huntsman training had gotten a hit in on her. Right now she was sitting in the passenger seat, a neutral look on her face as she seemed to be lost in thought, most likely thinking over what happened in her last encounter with the older Ursario brother.

"Hey don't worry too much," said Exo, trying to get his current partner's attention, "We got caught by surprise, it happens, but we're still alive and kicking and I doubt that those guys were able to make it too far, we just might need to call in a little help to even the odds." Neo looked to Exo for a moment, her expression still fairly neutral as she nodded her head before going back to her own thoughts. Exo was about to say something else until the screen on his dashboard began beeping.

Exo hit one of the many buttons on the console, causing the screen to come to life as an image of Adam Taurus appeared, his face in its usual neutral scowl. "Hey boss we were just about to call you," said Exo as he removed the ice pack from his head. "I understand you've run into some difficulties hunting down our second most wanted traitor," said Adam in his usual no nonsense tone.

"Well the problem isn't hunting him down," said Exo as he pulled out a map he'd made a few marks on, "You see we actually managed to injure Drake badly enough that even with help he won't be able to go too far, especially with the mountains in this area."

"Am I to understand that means you know where he is then," asked Adam. "Probably right here," said Exo as he pointed to a spot he'd circled on the map, "This little town here has been abandoned for some time, so it's got plenty of trees surrounding it, as well as several intact buildings for shelter, and more importantly it's only a few miles from the last town, if I were an injured, desperate traitor that's where I'd be?" "If you know all that," said Adam, "Then what I've heard is true, the only thing keeping you from bringing me his head right now is the fact that he is not alone."

"Oh you know that part already," said Exo, "Yeah Drakey boys got himself some new friends, to be specific it's the Ursario brothers, the same two guys that me and him fought during the Vytal Festival, oh and some chick with a sniper rifle too." "The Ursario brothers you say," said Adam as he brought his thumb to his chin in thought, "The ones who are also friends with Blake?"

"Yep that's them," said Exo, "And if I recall you've got a bit of personal business with anyone who calls themselves a friend of your little stray." "I told her I would make it my life's mission to destroy what's important to her," said Adam, "Having two of her friends and an old acquaintance, dead or alive, would be a very good lesson for her about betraying her own cause."

"Good to hear," said Exo, "And we have every intention of delivering them to you, we're just gonna need a little assistance is all." "What do you need," asked Adam. "Patch us through to the commanding officer in this region," replied Exo, "If we're gonna cut off all their escape routes we're gonna need some extra hands."

 **And that's the end of this chapter. I know it was kind of short, but I thought I'd take the next two chapters to explain a couple things before we get back into the action, like the Aura Shadow. As for the next chapter, we'll finally delve a little into Exo and Drake's pasts. As always, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers who've kept up with me and this lengthy story.**

 **You've all given me the confidence to keep on writing, so, I'd also like to take this time to ask the viewers a quick question that I myself am finding difficult to answer: Who do you think Wayne should end up with, or at least, who should Wayne end up with next?**

 **Yes, I've found I can't seem to fully decide on how I want Wayne's love life to go as I am still very much following the show and keeping an eye on who's with who. So I've decided to ask all of you my fellow readers and writers, if anyone has any input on who they think Wayne would be a good match with, I'm all ears. And if we have an overwhelming majority demanding a certain pairing, who knows, it just might happen. So if you have any input, just send me a message and we'll see where the story goes from here (Note: I will only accept pairing Wayne with a girl as Wayne is a straight character, so any suggestions involving Wayne with a guy will be disregarded. Not trying to be mean it's just the way I'm writing my character). 'Til next time.**


	47. The Making of a Mercenary

**The Making of a Mercenary**

Abandoned Village

"What in the world is burning," mumbled Wayne as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. Night had fallen in the abandoned town, but Wayne's night vision allowed him to see his surroundings just fine. What Wayne didn't see, however, was anyone else in the room, not even Aegis. I'm all for privacy, thought Wayne as he got up from the bed and peeked out the door, but this seems a bit much. No one was in the hallway either as Wayne made his way down the stairs and through the lobby. "Yo Aegis," Wayne called, "You here?"

No response, he noted as he made his way to the building entrance. "May, Drake," Wayne yelled a bit, hoping he might here an answer from them. But, like before, there was no response. In fact, the only thing that seemed to change was how the smell of burning wood and debris grew stronger the closer he got to the exit. Please let this just be a friendly bonfire or something, thought Wayne as he exited the building.

Wayne stepped onto the street and froze. "When in the, how in the world did this get here?" He blurted out as he looked at the sight before him. Though he'd never seen it in person, he'd done a lot of research before heading to Mistral and that left little doubt in his mind that what he was looking at in the distance right now was Haven academy, only much of it was on fire, or destroyed.

"I-is someone there," said a weak, but familiar voice. Looking down, Wayne felt his heart sink. The ground in front of his feet was littered with bodies, the bodies of his friends and brother. Aegis, most of team RWBY, team CFVY, SSSN, and many of the other teams they'd fought alongside during the battle of Beacon.

"W-Wayne," said the voice again. "Velvet!" exclaimed Wayne as he kneeled down and turned his friend over to examine her condition. She was beaten up pretty bad and her breathing was shallow. "It h-happened so fast," Velvet managed to choke out. "Don't try to speak," said Wayne, forcing himself to stay calm, "I'm gonna try to get you and anyone else still breathing to safety, we'll figure this out."

"What's there to figure out," said a voice behind Wayne. Wayne turned his head towards the source of the voice, his eyes widening at the sight as another one of his friends stumbled towards him. "Weiss!" Wayne nearly gasped as he saw her condition. Her outfit was torn in several places and her skin was marked over with several bruises and scratches, and she was walking towards him with a limp, using her blade Myternaster to keep herself steady. "What happened, Weiss," asked Wayne as he gently set Velvet's head back on the ground and stood up, "How did this happen?" "We failed," replied Weiss, "We could've won, you had a clear shot at their leader but you're aura shadow failed, all because you hadn't mastered it, why couldn't you master it in time?"

"I, I just," Wayne stuttered, not sure how to answer the question. "You should've just embraced it," said Weiss as she held up her weapon and pointed it at Wayne's heart, "Fully opened the dark half of your soul, then you could've used the aura shadow to its full potential." "Weiss to do that would mean permanently bringing out the worst side of me, the side that has no disregard for life, the side that actually enjoys destruction."

"And since when would something like that stop you," said Weiss as she took her normal fighting stance, "I know you Wayne, under any other circumstance you'd sacrifice your body and soul if it meant the safety and happiness of your friends and family, but you just had to waste your time trying to 'master' it, now everyone's dead and it's YOUR FAULT!"

"Weiss don't," said Wayne as she lunged towards him, her blade aimed at his heart. She never got close, however, as a sickle came flying out of nowhere and slashed her across the back, cutting through her jacket and causing her hair to fall out of its usual bun. Weiss yelped in pain as she dropped her weapon and fell into Wayne's arms. "NO!" exclaimed Wayne as he held her body, watching the light go from her eyes.

"This can all be avoided," said a strangely distorted voice, "There is still time if you wish to prevent this fate." Wayne looked towards the voice as a figure with a wolf helmet and a black coat with a red bear symbol on it stood, his body radiating a mass of black mist which pooled around his ankles and floated into the air around him. "You," Wayne said with more than a hint of anger.

"Still haven't given me a name I see," said the figure. "What point would there be," replied Wayne as he kneeled to put Weiss down, or what passed for her in a dream, "You're just the nasty half of my soul." "Perhaps I am," said the figure, "Or perhaps am I your true nature, your true self."

"You only influence my nature through the aura shadow," replied Wayne as he looked back up at the figure, "The only thing true about you is that you're a part of me." "I'd like to think I speak truth as well," said the figure, "You can't deny that more destruction is coming, you know full well that your enemies draw closer to their goal with each passing day, coming ever closer to this," The figure raised his hands as he indicated the entire scene in front of him and Wayne, "So why waste time when you can easily gain the power you need?" Wayne didn't answer as dream Weiss raised her hand and rested it against his cheek. "Please Wayne," she said, "Don't let this happen."

"I won't," said Wayne as he placed the girl down on the ground and stood up, "I know time is short, but it's not up yet and so I'm going to keep trying to do this the right way," Wayne drew his weapons and switched them to sickle mode, "So you just go back where you belong, because I'm not letting you anywhere near my friends!" Wayne leaped at his mist covered duple-ganger and swung his sickles as the dream collapsed around him.

Wayne's eyes shot open as he nearly jumped out of the bed, his gaze quickly darting from one point of the room to the other as he tried to get his bearings. Good, nothing's on fire, he thought as he noticed movement in the corner. "Oh you're up," said Aegis as he rubbed his eyes, "About time, I was dozing off over here." "Aegis, you're alright," said Wayne in relief. "Yeah I'm fine," said Aegis, a questioning look on his face, "Why wouldn't I be?" "Sorry, just a bad dream," replied Wayne as he got out of the bed.

"How bad we talkin'," asked Aegis. "You remember that dream we both kept having several years back where we were running away from an army of Grimm in nothin' but our underwear?" Said Wayne. "Oh man, that one," said Aegis, "I remember that dream keeping me up for days on end sometimes."

"Well if I had to pick between that one and the one I just had, I'd go with running away from Grimm in my underwear," said Wayne. "Yikes," said Aegis, "You, uh, need to talk about it or anything?" "In a little while," said Wayne, "I'm gonna take a walk and clear my head first, you go on ahead and get a bit more sleep."

"Don't need to ask me twice," said Aegis as he sat down on the bed, "I'll be down in a little while." "Just be sure to get enough rest," said Wayne as he headed for the door. "You need it more than me," said Aegis, "I'm not the one who took a blade through his arm."

"No you just half-fried yourself in a small fire dust explosion," said Wayne, "Some parts of you came out well done while the rest of you was just medium rare." "I came out better than the other guy," said Aegis, "Half of him came out well done as opposed to just a few parts." "If it really works for you," said Wayne as he walked out the door, "Just try to only fry the bad guy next time." "Yeah, yeah," said Aegis as he laid down for a short nap.

Wayne walked the hallway of the abandoned saloon-like building as he peered out the windows, keeping his eyes open for any sort of suspicious movement. He knew they all needed time to rest and recover, but he found that he was quickly going stir-crazy just sitting around doing nothing. The nightmares about the aura shadow weren't helping either.

Guess being hunted down makes one a little antsy, he thought to himself as he descended the stairs to the ground floor, which was littered with tables and chairs. "You know it's not good to push it when you're injured," said Drake as he sat at the abandoned saloon's bar, sipping from a thermos.

"You should talk," said Wayne as he sat down at a table directly behind the bar where they'd set some of their supplies out, grabbing his own thermos as he did so, "Even after a whole day of healing by aura you're still in worse shape than me, and yet here you are."

"I can easily get around well enough to get a drink," said Drake, "I can even fight in my current condition, just not at one hundred percent." "Well best heal up fast," said Wayne, "That Exo guy is one persistent prick and I doubt it'll take him much longer to locate this place, assuming he hasn't already."

"His persistence is one of his few redeeming qualities," said Drake as he took another sip out of his thermos, "At least it was when we were partners." "I get the impression you two didn't always get along," said Wayne.

"We had differing opinions on," Drake paused to think of a way to explain it, "A lot of things." "What was the big one," asked Wayne as he took a sip of his own drink. "Well let's just say that my beliefs about the Faunus cause, and Exo's love of only money didn't always mix," replied Drake.

"What the heck kind of a name is Exo anyway?" questioned Wayne, "It doesn't really seem like something respectable parents would name their kid." "That's because Exo isn't his real name," said Drake, "It's just the name he goes by, it's short for Executioner."

"Spectacular," Said Wayne before lowering his voice to a whisper, "Is his real name something embarrassing?" "I wouldn't know," answered Drake, "He would run his mouth about all sorts of things but when it came to his past, he'd only ever give me the bare minimum in detail, so I looked into it myself one day."

"What'd you find out," asked Wayne, listening more intently now. "From what little I learned, it seems he had a regular mother and a father who was an ex-soldier," said Drake, "As a result, Exo learned a good bit about weapons and military tactics growing up, but he also had a destructive temper and a bad habit of getting into trouble."

"Sounds like a great mix so far," said Wayne sarcastically. "Well it seems in an attempt to help him become more disciplined, and because it was the option that he and his parents could agree on," Continued Drake, "He was sent to a huntsman academy, and at first he did quite well, even his temper only showed up every once in a while."

Wayne shifted in his seat as he listened, starting to get an idea of where this story was going. "But then, he started to get more vicious in his sparring sessions, and just down right unpleasant whether he won or lost, in fact it was one such match that ended his time as a student," Said Drake, "You see after he defeated one of his opponents he taunted their weakness mercilessly before turning his back and when his enraged opponent tried to strike him from behind, he spun around and decapitated him with his blade."

"Oh," said Wayne as he involuntarily felt his neck, imagining the decapitation, "Yeah that's kind of looked down upon by academy teachers."

"One could say that his life, as well as his old name, died that day with that student," said Drake, "The academy tried to keep word of the incident from getting out, as for Exo well, he managed to pull a fast one and escape the academy, taking all of his gear with him, after that he disappeared, now I've only heard rumors of what happened to him over the next few years but what I can tell you is that over time, a wolf Faunus going by the name Executioner steadily rose in the ranks of mercenaries and assassins within the criminal underworld and his trademark was decapitation by a black blade."

"And it was this same Faunus heritage and his connections that brought him to the attention of the White Fang," stated Wayne. "Not only the White Fang, but Roman Torchwick as well," said Drake, "I was partnered with him to keep an eye on him, mercenaries aren't known for always being loyal, and because we needed as many fighters as we could get, and when we weren't working together on missions, Exo would often take side jobs as a guard and/or liaison, heck I think he may've even been one of the ones to inform Adam about Cinder wanting to meet."

"And the rest," Asked Wayne. "We set the plan in motion for Beacon's fall," said Drake. "And royally screwed up our entire school," said Aegis from the second floor as he started down the stairs.

"Yes we did," said Drake, "Looking back now, the only part of my actions I don't regret on that day is choosing to leave the Fang." "That reminds me," said Aegis as he plopped down in the seat at the table with Wayne and Drake, "The whole time you were there you never tried attacking Blake, or even getting near her for that matter."

"It was Adam's orders," said Drake, "He said we couldn't draw unnecessary attention during the festival, I practically had to beg him to let me fight you in the tournament." "And what would you have done if he hadn't given you that order?" Asked Wayne.

"Considering she was almost like a sister to me when we were growing up and was the one who got me into the Fang in the first place, I would've demanded answers from her," said Drake, "Why did she leave, what did Beacon offer that the Fang didn't, and was she really happy being around those friends of hers?"

"Believe me," said Aegis, "If you'd met the rest of her team you wouldn't even have to ask that last question, and come to think of it you still might get the chance if we manage to make it to Mistral." "What, uh, what are they like exactly?" asked Drake. "Oh where to begin," said Aegis, "Well there's Yang, hot-headed, fun-loving, can be a bit of a flirt when she wants to be." "But don't underestimate her," said Wayne, "She is one heck of a fighter, she's beaten me on a few occasions, though our first match hurt the most, I didn't know about her semblance at the time."

"Then there's team RWBY's leader, her loveable little sister Ruby," said Aegis, "She's a bit shy at first but once you get to know her." "You'll find she's bubbly, friendly, loves weaponry, and possesses more optimism than almost anyone I've ever met," Wayne said as he continued Aegis's train of thought.

"Plus, she's adorable," said Aegis, "I doubt you could've hated her even when you were with the Fang." "It was also adorable when you asked her out to the dance," Wayne whispered to Aegis. "Hey that's personal stuff," said Aegis, his face flushing with embarrassment.

"Well I can see how she'd get along with those two," said Drake, getting back on topic, "But what about the heiress, did she get along with Blake because to be perfectly honest, given her family history, I had to stop myself from trying to assassinate her during my time at Beacon, I still might've tried if Adam hadn't urged me to stick with the plan."

"If you had tried that during the Vytal Festival," said Wayne, "It would've been one of the biggest mistakes of your life." "Interesting to hear you say that," said Drake, "Given you and your brother's mixed heritage I would have thought-," "That she'd be nothing more than a massive pain in # to the both of us," Aegis finished Drake's sentence for him.

"More or less," said Drake. "Admittedly, when we first met she wasn't the most, pleasant person to be around," Said Wayne. "That's putting it lightly," said Aegis. "Yes there were some days where she'd dog us about our heritage, go on and on about how we should learn to be a bit more proper, and yes, at first she was almost exactly what you'd expect a bratty rich girl to be, heck Aegis here would've probably begged you to off her back then." "Do you charge a high price," Aegis asked.

"Not anymore," said Drake, smirking a bit at the comment, "Though you did say back then, what about now?" "I mean I still might pay you to graffiti her wardrobe or something," said Aegis. "No I mean what is she like now," Asked Drake.

"Well after a few lessons about life outside high society, or as I'd like to call it, life in the rest of the world," replied Wayne, "And getting to know her a little better, she's become just as good a friend to Blake as Ruby or Yang, and she's even declared that she wants to reform the Schnee Dust Company, including its Faunus labor practices."

"So if I'd killed her back at the Vytal Festival," Drake started. "Not only would you have stopped the reform of the SDC, you would've killed one of Blake's best friends, and me and Aegis may've just left you at that hospital in Sol Kaze," Wayne finished for Drake.

"Hm, I guess it's true what they say," said Drake, "hate really can blind you." Wayne was about to say something else, but Drake's scroll suddenly started ringing. "Hate to interrupt your little pow wow down there," said May over the scroll, "But we got a bit of a problem up here."

The three of them made their way up to where May was keeping watch on the roof. "What's going on," asked Drake as he kneeled next to May. "I got what looks like bullheads on the distant horizon and they don't look like they're from Mistral," said May as she handed Drake a pair of hi-tech binoculars. "Oh that's not good," said Drake as he peered through the binoculars, using its zoom function.

"Please don't tell me," said Aegis. "They're White Fang transports," answered Drake, "And given the number I doubt they're doing a simple supply run." "Which probably means," said Wayne as he took his turn looking through the binoculars, "We've got nine bullheads heading straight for us, likely filled to the brim with White Fang soldiers and at least Neo and Exo in tow."

"Worse," said Drake, "Exo doesn't usually have the authority to call in that many ships, so more than likely the lieutenant in charge of this branch is with them too." "Geez," said Aegis as he also took a look through the binoculars, "I know they wanted us dead, but this seems a bit excessive." "How long 'til they get here May," asked Drake.

"Well, assuming they're going at top speed, I'd say around thirty minutes or so before they're right on top of us," replied May as she continued to peer through her rifle scope. " # # that is not a lot of time to pack," said Aegis. "Even if we got on the bikes and left right now it'd only be a matter of time before they caught up to us," said Drake.

"Plus, there's no telling how much cover we'd have once we reach the mountains," said Wayne, "and let's not even talk about the Grimm we might run into on the way." "So what do we do then," asked May as she stood up, cradling her rifle in her arms, "Try to hide in the woods and wait 'til they give up?"

"It could work," said Drake, "But Exo's no novice tracker, if he finds us he might just have the bullheads shoot up the forest." "So what's the play then," asked May. "How many more traps can we set up in twenty minutes?" asked Wayne as he kept his eyes on the horizon. "A few more if everyone pitches in, but why twenty minutes?" asked May.

"Because by then they should be in range," replied Wayne as he unhooked his mask from his belt. May sighed before she spoke, "You up for this Drake, you're still not fully healed you know?" "I can hold my own," said Drake as he turned to May with a soft smile on his face, "And I wouldn't miss a chance to be your spotter anyway." "And I've never really been all that good at hiding for a long time," said Aegis. "I guess that settles it then," said Wayne, donning his wolf mask, "We stay here and fight it out."

 **And so the enemy closes in once again on team WA and their new companions as we reach the end of this chapter. First off, thank you to everyone whose given their thoughts about who Wayne should wind up with so far, and for those of you who still want to give their thoughts, it's not too late. I've decided to keep the vote open for the next couple of chapters of volume four, just in case the vote suddenly goes another way. And as always, thank you to the rest of my reviewers, followers, and viewers, and be sure to stop in next chapter as team WA wages all-out war against the White Fang's forces.**


	48. Knocking Down the Town

**Knocking Down the Town**

Aboard White Fang Bullhead: A Few Minutes from the Abandoned Town

"We're two and a half miles out and closing," said the pilot of the bullhead that currently carried a load of White Fang soldiers who were cramped even further due to the presence of the burly Lieutenant and his chainsaws. "Very good, keep on course and begin veering outward as planned when we get in range," said the Lieutenant as he switched on his radio to broadcast to the rest of the bullheads.

"This is a message to all troops," Said the Lieutenant, "For those who haven't read the briefing, Jerry, we have a total of four targets whose last projected location places them within this abandoned town, we are to split up the bullheads and have troops surround each and every possible avenue of escape, leaving them the option of either surrendering or fighting." The lieutenant paused as he heard the collective murmuring of his troops.

"I know this amount of troops would seem excessive ordinarily," said the Lieutenant, "But keep in mind, one of the targets is former Lieutenant Drake Beller who, as we all know, is capable of just as much damage as the traitor Belladonna, and he is now backed by an unknown sniper and huntress in training."

"And then there's the Ursario brothers," Said Exo over the radio, who was currently riding on another ship with Neo, "Two huntsmen in training, but don't let that fool ya, they were part of the team that brought disaster to the Mountain Glenn hideout, took out an untold number of Grimm, androids, and our own troops at the Battle of Beacon and in recent months, managed to raid two of our smaller Mistral bases practically by themselves, so if I were you I'd rethink my definition of excessive force."

The Lieutenant rolled his eyes a little at Exo's statement before he continued speaking. "Now if on the off chance we can take any of them alive, we do so as brother Taurus has something special planned for anyone who has a connection to Belladonna, but for now, we hit them hard, fast, and shoot to ki-."

The Lieutenant's sentence was cut short as a javelin-shaped bolt of blue energy came flying through the air and impacted against the right engine of Exo's bullhead, causing it to explode in a shower of flame as the air ship tilted violently in the air, hitting the bull head next to it and knocking it out of the sky as well. "What just happened!" exclaimed a surprised Lieutenant, "We're over a mile and half out, we shouldn't be in range of either sniper!"

Abandoned Town Roof tops

"Nailed it," said May as she looked through her rifle scope, "That semblance of yours reaches farther than I thought, Wayne." "I've found a few uses for it," said Wayne as he began charging another javelin-shaped blast in his hand.

"Well best get over to Drake, those ships will regroup any second now," said May as she racked a round into her rifle. "Here's hoping he's got another target for me," said Wayne as he leaped onto the roof of the next building and ran to where Drake was currently set up.

White Fang Bullhead

"Everyone break formation, surround the town and begin strafing runs," said the Lieutenant as he communicated over the radio, "Exo come in, what's your status?" "My status is pissed," Exo yelled over the radio as he kicked the door to the bullhead open, "But otherwise me and Neo are fine, though a good number of our guys are out." "What was that?" asked the Lieutenant, "That was no sniper shot I've ever seen."

"It has to be Wayne Ursario," replied Exo, "His semblance is a form of energy projection, looks like he's found a new way to use it." As Exo finished speaking another bolt of energy impacted against one of the bullheads which had just managed to line up for a strafing run, causing it to crash near the entrance of the town as the rest of the bullheads began circling.

"Line up two other bullheads and do a strafing run where that last blast came from," Ordered the Lieutenant over the radio as he moved to get a look out of the front window of the bullhead. "Yes sir," responded the pilot as the three bullheads advanced, firing their cannons into the buildings directly in front of them.

Let's see how long you vermin can hide with a mass of mounted cannon fire aimed at you, thought the Lieutenant as he watched one building after another get punched full of holes by the bullhead's cannons. Suddenly, the glass to the bullhead cracked as both pilot's suddenly slumped forward, one with a shattered mask and the other with a bullet hole in his chest armor.

Beller and the other sniper, the Lieutenant thought as realization struck him, they hit both pilots almost simultaneously. "Brace for impact!" Yelled the Lieutenant as he tried to move the pilot off of the control stick and pull the bullhead up. The bullhead next to him was also hit, but this one was hit by a spinning glass circle glowing with white energy dust, causing the bullhead to spin out of control.

In the next instant, the bullhead impacted against one of the larger buildings in the town, throwing its occupants around wildly until it came to a stop in the middle of the debris. Alright, thought the Lieutenant in a groggy, but enraged state, those little # # are going to lose a limb or two before going to Adam.

Crash Site of Exo's Bullhead

"Stop the strafing runs," said Exo over the radio as he got a view from one of the forest trees, "We've already lost four ships, and one of the ones in the town is the Lieutenant's, so move to plan B and get your boots on the ground now!" "Sir, permission to send a few squads into the town," asked one of the soldiers on the radio.

"What the heck for," asked Exo. "Sir, in order to hook up with the Lieutenant's squad and get them out of the town," replied the soldier. Exo rolled his eyes before answering, "Fine, permission granted but only so you can help the Lieutenant get out of there, if you run into any of the targets do not pursue them, trust me you won't stand a chance." "Understood sir," said the soldier over the radio.

Neo landed on a branch next to Exo with a questioning look on her face. "Yeah I know," said Exo, "A good bit of them will probably get picked off by those guys, but we still need the Lieutenant to at least stand a chance, and besides, we can still find a use for the cannon fodder." Neo smiled slightly as she nodded and hopped off the tree branch. Didn't expect them to stand and fight so soon, thought Exo as a mild smirk formed on his face, oh well, more fun that way.

Abandoned Town

"Wow, now this is a good start," said May as she looked at the wreckage outside the window of the room she had climbed into through her scope. "We caught them by surprise," said Drake over May's scroll, "The Ursario's semblances had a greater range than they thought, so they forgot about our sniping abilities for an instant, but it looks like all the soldiers on the bullheads have made it out in one piece thanks to low flying and Atlas ingenuity."

"I'm really starting to hate Atlas ingenuity," said Aegis, his voice also coming from the scroll. "We knew it'd be an uphill struggle," said Wayne, "But we got a plan, speaking of which, everyone in position?" "I'm ready on the roof," said Drake. "I'm in my spot," answered Aegis. "And I'm peering out through my spot," said May as she checked her rifle, "Just waiting for the signal."

"One signal coming up," said Wayne as he put his scroll up and looked across the street to the building Aegis was in. Wayne raised his hand in the air and pointed his index and middle finger towards the White Fang soldiers. Aegis nodded his head as he put Ursus Cleaver against the wall and spun the cylinder to fire dust.

In another moment, the wall exploded, sending a few unfortunate souls flying while the rest of the soldiers hastily backed away while trying to shield themselves from the flying debris. In the next instant, Wayne leaped out from behind cover and opened fire with both Crescent Fangs, downing even more of the soldiers from across the street.

The frightened soldiers tried to set up a defense, but the ones who managed to get their rifles up where picked off, one by one from well-placed sniper fire. "Retreat!" ordered the Lieutenant as some more of his soldiers fell to gunfire and flying glass shards. "Yeah you better run!" Aegis yelled excitedly as he chased after the remaining soldiers and the Lieutenant. "Darn it Aegis wait up," Wayne yelled as he followed after his brother.

"Guess it's time to switch positions," said May as she picked up her scroll and slung her rifle over her back. "We'd better hurry too," came Drake's voice from May's scroll, "Those two brothers are a handful."

"Yeah, but they've been great to have around so far," May pointed out as she climbed out of the window and up to the roof. "Well let's make sure they stick around a little longer," said Drake as he also moved from his spot and began hopping from one roof top to another.

"Hahaha, run, run for your lives!" yelled Aegis as he and Wayne chased after the retreating White Fang soldiers. "I'm glad you're having fun and all," said Wayne as he ran alongside Aegis, "But try to remember that there are more where these guys came from."

"Come on Wayne," said Aegis as they were about to turn a corner, "These guys couldn't get reinforcements in that quick-," Aegis stopped speaking as he and Wayne rounded the next corner, where two more bullheads worth of soldiers had joined up with the ones they were chasing and began aiming their rifles at the two brothers.

"Other way," said Wayne as he and Aegis ran back behind the corner, hardly a second before it was peppered with gunfire. "Hate to say I told ya so," said Wayne as he and Aegis ran back the opposite way. "In my defense," replied Aegis as he moved behind Wayne and formed a glass shield to stop some of the gun fire coming from behind them, "You phrased that as more of a possibility than a certainty."

"Just get to cover," ordered Wayne as he and Aegis ran into what was once a saloon-style restaurant and dove behind the bar. Wayne sprang back up and managed to get a few shots off before ducking back down to avoid a hail of gunfire from the enemy soldiers.

"Well this is a fine mess," said Aegis as the saloon was chewed up by gunfire, causing broken glass, wood, and other debris to fly through the air. "Yeah, but we can make a big mess too," said Wayne as he switched his right weapon to sickle form and began charging his semblance, "Tell May to set off the trap now." "One trap coming up," said Aegis as he pulled May's picture up on his scroll to talk to her, "Blow the barrels!"

The White Fang soldiers continued firing, until a triggered explosive hidden in some old barrels exploded behind the soldiers, knocking several of them over and staggering a good bit of the rest. "Blow the other one," said Aegis into his scroll. Just as he finished speaking, a hidden explosive on the building from across the street went off, burying a few unlucky soldiers underneath the buildings balcony.

"Wave shard," said Wayne as he and Aegis jumped up from their hiding spot, with Wayne releasing multiple small slash attacks and Aegis sending out several glass shards. Soldier after soldier fell from the combined attack which also managed to tear up a good bit of the building across the street from them. Any soldier lucky enough to scramble out of the way quickly began retreating back the way they came.

"Pull back!" ordered the Lieutenant as he and the rest of his troops ran back the way they came. "Yeah you better run!" yelled Aegis as he ran out of the shot up saloon. "Let 'em go for now," said Wayne as he was checking his scroll. "Ah, but we got them on the run again," said Aegis with slight disappointment.

"May and Drake have spotted more coming from the other direction," said Wayne, "They're gonna need a little back up and I think now would be a good time to review fighting in smokescreens." Aegis thought for a moment before answering, "Alright, but the next time that Lieutenant shows his face I'm bringing the club down on his head." "We'll get another shot at 'em soon enough," said Wayne, "The day is far from over."

Entrance to Abandoned Town

"Lieutenant," said Exo over his radio, "Are you still alive?" "I'm fine," replied the Lieutenant after a moment of static over the radio, "We managed to meet up with our reinforcements, but the targets laid some traps and have managed to force us into retreat on this side." "What about the squads sent in on the other side," asked Exo. "They're heading for the snipers, but the Ursario brothers just started heading that way too," replied the Lieutenant, "If this keeps up we won't have many soldiers left."

"Then we need to modify the original plan," said Exo, "It's gonna take all three of us to take 'em out, so for now have the troops move to cut off any escape routes out of the town while you regroup with us." "We'll need a way to lure them out," said the Lieutenant. Exo smirked a bit before speaking, "Get me full radio broadcasting, I've got a way to draw them out, and a couple other ideas, how good are your troops at passing messages around?"

Closer to Center of Abandoned Town

"They should be right around here," said the lead soldier as he turned a corner, only to be knocked over by a bullet to his head. "Up there," said one of the troopers as he began firing at the balcony May had been using, with several other soldiers firing their own weapons as they lined up in a loose formation.

May quickly moved back from the balcony to avoid the gunfire as she retreated into the building. "Get her, before she gets out of the building!" yelled another soldier as they busted the door to the building down.

As soon as they did, Drake leapt over the railing on the second floor with both blades drawn as he cut down the first couple troops entering through the door. A few more troops came at Drake with swords drawn as they attempted to cut Drake to pieces.

But Drake parried and countered each strike as he spun back and cut through a few more troops. "This is embarrassing," said Drake as he cut down another soldier and stepped out the door way, "Did they stop teaching basic rules of engagement after I left?" As if in answer to Drake's question, several more soldiers, carrying rifles this time, charged at the door as they discharged their rifles at Drake.

I guess they taught them something, thought Drake as he retreated back into the building and up the stairs. "Drake, heads up," said May as she stood at the top the stairs and shoved a very large wooden furniture piece on wheels down the stairs.

"Oh boy," said Drake as he jumped over the rolling, and odd-sounding, furniture. "Did you just roll a piano down on them?" asked Drake as he watched the large musical instrument roll over several unfortunate White Fang soldiers until it hit the bottom of the stairs and crashed through the doors.

"It was out of tune," said May innocently as the piano suddenly exploded, "And the keys were bad." "Well points for cleverness," said Drake as he turned back to the entrance, "I've definitely never seen a booby trapped piano before."

The sound of footsteps drew their attention as they pointed their weapons back towards the door. "You guys okay in here," asked Wayne as he entered through the now destroyed doorway. "And was that an exploding piano?" asked Aegis as he walked in behind them. "I was feeling creative," said May.

"We're fine, in fact you got here just in time, the rest of the squads they sent out are about to converge on this spot," said Drake as he walked out the door. "So this other group just managed to sneak up on ya," asked Aegis.

"They tried, but in the end they were just some overzealous newbies who thought they could take us without the rest of their main force," replied Drake. "I guess that means we're ready to try that other maneuver we talked about while setting up traps," said Wayne.

"Yes actually, but you know I still think it's ironic," said Drake as he activated his semblance, causing black mist to spread over the area, "The last two times you were in this mist I was trying to kill you." "Well I never thought I'd dance with an heiress or an evil villainess," said Wayne, "But you know life and surprises right." "And I never thought I'd paint a giant black-," but Aegis statement was cut off as the black mist fully enveloped them.

Town Entrance

"This is ridiculous," said the Lieutenant as they stood on the roof top of the tallest building they could find, "The three of us should move in with all of our remaining soldiers and bring them down."

"If you want an even bigger mess than you have right now, go ahead," said Exo as he looked through binoculars towards the center of the town where black mist had sprouted between some of the buildings, "But I guarantee you, if we just leap in there with all of your soldiers they'll only be in the way, so give the order or you're getting no help from us."

The Lieutenant grunted in aggravation before switching his radio back on. "This is an order to all remaining White Fang soldiers, move back and secure the towns escape routes," said the Lieutenant, "Do not attempt further engagement with the targets unless you have no other option, further orders will be given once all escape routes are blocked."

As the Lieutenant finished issuing the order, static filled their radios as they awaited a response. "Acknowledged, moving back," said one of the soldiers. "So now what," asked the Lieutenant as he turned back to Exo and Neo. "We send out some extra secret orders to your soldiers, and an invitation to our adversaries," replied Exo as he pulled out his radio and his scroll.

Near Town Center

"Move out of the mist!" Exclaimed a soldier before he was silenced by a stone mace. "Where are they?" asked another before a pair of blades cut him down. "RAAAAAAGH!," yelled yet another soldier as he fired wildly in all directions before a sickle silenced him. Several more soldiers tried either firing randomly into the mist or escaping, only to be swiftly taken out by their quarry. One after the other, the flashing muzzles of the soldiers rifles were blacked out, until the only ones who remained were the ones who managed to run out of the mist.

"Full retreat," called one of the soldiers as she and the rest of the White Fang troops ran, or in some cases stumbled, out of the mist. "Aw man," said Aegis as the mist slowly dissipated, "And I was having fun too." "It seems we did enough damage to make them retreat," said Drake as they viewed the numerous bodies of defeated soldiers littering the ground, "A good thing too, I need to save up my semblance if we're gonna fight off Exo and the others."

As if on cue, Drake's scroll began ringing, and several of the soldier's radios began making broadcasting noises. "Hey Drakey, you havin' fun knockin' around your former brothers and sisters," said Exo's voice over the radios. "What do you want Exo?" asked Drake as he answered his scroll.

"Oh there you are ex-partner, thought you wouldn't answer for a second," said Exo, his voice now coming from both the scroll and the radios, "Can your new friends and that sniper chick you got the hots for hear me?" "Oh we can hear you alright # #hole," said May as she walked up to Drake and the others, "And I got a few words for you as well."

"And I'd just love to hear 'em, but I think you may want to listen to my little offer first," said Exo. "What offer," asked Wayne. "Well you see," said Exo, "I've been running some numbers and it seems that ya'll have four heavy hitters and we only have three, so here's what I'm thinking, you send out three of your four and me and two others will meet you in the little abandoned town square." "And let me guess," said Aegis, "We fight three on three and winner gets to walk away."

"Now that's about right actually," said Exo, "I'm surprised you caught on bear # # ." "Now you listen here," said Aegis before Wayne stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "What are your terms?" Asked Wayne. "Well to keep it short," replied Exo, "If you guys win this little match up not only do we let you walk away, me, Neo, and if I can convince him, the Lieutenant, will not pursue you for the rest of your journey to Haven Academy."

"And if you win," asked May. "Well then you'll either be brought to the White Fang or dead," replied Exo, "Oh, and just know that if you refuse or try to escape we will hit this whole place with every last bit of fire power we've got from a distance." "Oh he is so bluffing," said Aegis, "You guys can see it right, he is bluffing." "Well you have fifteen minutes to think it over and get to the town square, hope to see ya there," said Exo as the radios switched off and the call on Drake's scroll ended.

"Okay, no one really believes this guy is gonna keep his word," said Aegis as he crossed his arms across his chest. "No we don't," said Wayne, "That's why we're all going." "Wait we're still going," asked May, confusion evident in her tone, "If we know it's a trap then why go?"

"Because like before," said Drake, "They're bullheads can still outrun the two motorcycles we have and a fighting retreat is difficult, but more importantly I know Exo, he won't get the soldiers directly involved in the fight because they would just get in his way." "So what's the plan then," asked Aegis.

"Well how're you at over watch," Wayne asked May. "I'm good enough," replied May. "And how about you Drake," said Wayne, "Think you can take the Lieutenant in your condition?" "It wouldn't be the first time I've brought him down," said Drake, "Even in my condition I should at least be able to knock him around a bit." "Alright then," said Wayne, "Whose up for a little showdown?"

 **And that brings us to the end of this destructive chapter. First off, I'd like to apologize for getting this out later than I meant too, I was more occupied over the weekend than I thought I'd be and for whatever reason I couldn't get the website to work yesterday. Now for the good news, I've looked over all of the messages and reviews sent to me and we have a winner for the girl Wayne will fall for. So I'd like to say thank you all once again to my reviewers, followers, and viewers for helping me to make this story better and motivating me to write this story the best I can. Stop in next time as a vicious three on three battle commences. 'Til next time.**


	49. Death Match in the Sqaure

**Death Match in the Square**

Abandoned Town Square

Tension hung in the air as six figures approached the center of the town, three coming from one direction while the other three advanced from the opposite direction. "Remember Neo," said Exo as he, Neo and the Lieutenant approached the square, "Don't play around too much this time, we can't have them escaping again." Neo nodded as they advanced to the center of the courtyard.

On the other side of the courtyard, Wayne, Aegis, and Drake walked side by side, with Drake's eyes occasionally moving to the spot May was hiding, trying to spot any unseen threats with her rifle. Likewise, Wayne and Aegis's eyes were darting back and forth, looking for even the slightest sign of anything suspicious as they slowly closed the distance with their enemies. This is gonna be one nasty fight, thought Wayne as he noted that Neo, while still smiling like always, seemed more tense and her posture more rigid. If she didn't mean business before, Wayne thought, she certainly does now.

After advancing a bit further both parties stopped, leaving ten feet between the two of them as if it had been prearranged all along. Wayne stood across from Neo, while Aegis stood across from Exo, and Drake across from the Lieutenant. "How you doing there Drakey," asked Exo as he twirled one of his knives in his hand, "You look a bit less beat up than the last time I saw you." "I'm well enough," replied Drake, "How about you, it seems Aegis gave you a couple of nice extra burns to go with the others I gave you."

"They're not as bad as they look," replied Exo as he pulled on his sleeve to reveal more of the burn, "Just a little itchy now." "I can fix that," said Aegis as he pulled out Ursus Cleaver and rested it on his shoulder. "Oh don't worry," said Exo as he pulled his sword from his back, "I plan on taking you out first."

"I've got the Lieutenant then," said Drake as he detached his blade from his hip. "And I have to fight a crazy girl again," Said Wayne as he drew his Crescent Fangs from his coat, "Fantastic." "Enough talk," said the Lieutenant as he pulled out his new weapons, a pair of regular-sized chainsaws which he revved up, the twin motors generating a large amount of noise, "If you are not here to surrender yourself, then we have no further need for pointless conversation." "Fine, no more talking then," said Wayne as he took a fighting stance. "Just # $ whooping," Aegis added as everyone else stood ready, watching for the slightest twitch from the other side.

The Lieutenant moved first as he charged at Drake with his chainsaws held out in front of him. Taking the Lieutenant's movement as a signal, both sides charged at each other as Wayne fired his weapons at Neo and Exo, while Aegis formed a curved ice blade on his weapon. Exo spun his blade to deflect Wayne's bullets while Neo leaped upwards with her umbrella open, protecting herself from the barrage. As the distance closed to hardly a few feet, Wayne shifted his weapons to sickle form and began charging his semblance as Neo came spinning downwards at him with both feet aimed at his head.

At the last second, Wayne ducked as Aegis swung his weapon over his head, blocking Neo's attack as she landed on the weapon with both feet. Seizing the moment from Aegis's surprise move, Wayne leaped forward and spun in midair sending out four buzz saw shaped energy blasts from his sickles, with two directed at Neo and two directed at Exo. Neo, showing little reaction to the new attack form, gracefully leaped off of Aegis's weapon and in between the two spinning energy blades.

Exo was more visibly surprised by the attack as he leaped over the one aimed at his feet and threw his sword towards Drake as the second energy saw came flying straight for him. Drake easily deflected the spinning sword, causing it to spin up into the air as Exo, at the last possible second, teleported to his sword and avoided the energy blade.

Grabbing his sword in midair, Exo spun downwards with his blade aimed at Drake's back. As the blade was about to hit, Aegis moved in front and blocked Exo's blade with his own as Drake dropped and slid forward between the Lieutenant's feet, avoiding both of his chain saws. Drake slashed the Lieutenant's leg as he leaped back up behind the Lieutenant. The enraged Lieutenant whirled around, swinging one of his chainsaws vertically at Drake. Having no time to dodge, Drake raised his sword to block the strike, his arms shaking from the vibration of the chainsaw as he let it slide off of his blade and to the ground.

As Drake and the Lieutenant fought, Aegis held back Exo as the two exchanged a few sword strokes before locking their blades. Aegis caught movement out of the corner of his eye as Neo attempted to slash him in the back, only to be intercepted by Wayne as he moved in front of her and blocked her parasol blade. "Mix up," said Wayne as he and Aegis shoved their opponent's away and switched positions with Wayne slashing at Exo and Aegis attacking Neo. The parasol girl ducked and dodged around Aegis's swings before jumping over his last strike and kicking off of his back.

As Neo leaped off of Aegis's back, Exo blocked Wayne's sickles and shifted to the right, causing Wayne to move past him as Exo reached up and grabbed Neo's hand and swung her around. Wayne was able to bring his arms up just in time to block the monochrome girl's double kick, but he was still sent sliding backwards a few feet as Neo pushed off of his arms and landed a few feet away. Here we go again, thought Wayne, as Neo charged at him with her parasol blade aimed at his heart, and I don't think she wants to play around this time.

Be careful out there you guys, thought May as she scanned the field through her rifle scope, I really really doubt these guys plan on fighting fair. As May continued looking over the square turned fighting ground, she spotted movement on one of the roofs as a pair of White Fang soldiers climbed up and began aiming their assault rifles at the fighters in the square.

Oh like heck you will, thought May with determination as she lined up a shot on the farther of the two soldiers and steadied her rifle. As the soldiers were about to start firing into the square, May pulled the trigger on her rifle, feeling its recoil as an energy bullet sailed through the air and impacted with the head of the first soldier. Not hesitating for an instant, May aimed her rifle at the next soldier and fired, managing to hit him in the chest before he could scramble away. Two down, thought May, and a few dozen more to go.

"She's up there," came the voice of another soldier, drawing May's attention as she swung her rifle around and shot the trooper on the roof who had seen her sniping location. The trooper yelled in pain as he fell off the roof, but the damage was already done as more White Fang soldiers started closing in on May. Not good, she thought as she steadied her rifle and fired another shot, I won't be able to cover them the whole time, but at least I can put a dent in their numbers, so come on you mask wearing douche bags.

Drake dodged another swipe from the Lieutenant, the chainsaw barely a foot from his stomach. "You've gotten slower," said the Lieutenant as he swung both blades horizontally at Drake. Moving quickly, Drake spun and deflected the first attack, drawing his second sword as he moved, then blocked the second attack with the larger blade and slashed the Lieutenant across the chest with the other blade, forcing him back.

"I'm just injured," said Drake as he swung at the Lieutenant with both blades, his first attack being deflected by the Lieutenant's chainsaws before he swung back, catching his opponent with a pair of slashes across his stomach before kicking him away, "But I've still got plenty of speed to deal with you." "We'll see," said the Lieutenant as he regained his footing, "But I wonder if that little lady friend of yours is just as fast." Drake tilted his head in confusion before raising his blades as the Lieutenant charged him again.

"And here we are again," said Exo as he and Aegis exchanged blows before Exo tossed his sword up in the air and teleported to it. "And here you are," said Aegis as he blocked Exo's midair strike and pushed him back, "With the same old tricks."

"Not quite the same old tricks," replied Exo as he swung his sword at Aegis, then sent the blade sliding over Aegis's shoulder and into the ground as he jumped back a little. Aegis swung around, anticipating another teleport, only to be kicked in the back by Exo as he knocked him towards his sword. In the same instant, Exo teleported to his sword and hit Aegis in the face with a nasty right cross, knocking the half-bear Faunus to the ground as Exo pulled up his sword and swung downward at Aegis's head.

Reacting quickly, Aegis raised his weapon to block the blade before twisting around on the ground and kicking Exo in the stomach, knocking him back a few feet as Aegis used the precious few seconds he had to get back to his feet. "I've got a couple of new tricks myself," said Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon to earth dust and created a stone trident, "Picked this one up from my friend Neptune."

"And I picked this form up," said Exo as he pulled out a knife and held it in one hand and his sword in the other, "from a retired huntsman, wanna see how they compare?" Aegis responded with a roar as he barreled towards Exo with his new stone weapon while Exo leapt forwards, his blades hungry for blood.

Wayne smashed through the door of a nearby building as he avoided a rather vicious barrage of swings from his monochrome opponent. Rolling to a half-kneeling position, Wayne fired through the door way with both Crescent Fangs, forcing Neo to back off and flip away from the doorway. Wayne followed her movements as he sprayed the wall with gunfire, creating a large multitude of holes.

After another moment, he let his fingers off the triggers as he surveyed the damage, noting the light from the setting sun coming through the holes, but no movement outside. Wayne began moving backwards and further into the building as he sniffed the air and strained his eyes and ears for any indication of where his opponent was. The interior of the building was filled with scattered tables and chairs with some kind of bar in the corner and a stage in the back.

As Wayne moved through the restaurant/theater, he picked up his quarry's scent near one of the walls where a door to a separate room was located. Moving slowly and carefully, Wayne charged his semblance in his right hand as he approached the door on the left side. As he was about to kick the door in, he heard movement on the other side of the wall. Moving on instinct, Wayne shifted away from the wall just as the end of Neo's parasol blade jabbed through the wall where he'd been hardly a moment ago.

Wayne jumped back as Neo's other blade pierced through the door, nearly grazing his shoulder as he reacted by using his semblance to blast down the door, and the section of wall the umbrella blade had come through. Missed, he thought as he moved through the door way, noting that Neo wasn't among any of the debris.

I know you're in here, he thought as he sniffed the room, his muscles tensing at the closeness of her scent. As Wayne viewed the room, a small glint caught his eye. Swinging his weapons around, he fired at the glint, causing the image of the whole hallway to shatter like glass and rain down on Wayne, who instinctively raised his arms to block any glass that might fly at his eyes.

In that same moment, Neo came into view, knocking his weapons aside with her parasol as she kicked him back through the doorway. Wayne grunted as his back hit a nearby table, just managing to raise his guard in time to block another jab from Neo's parasol before countering with a kick to her midsection which she easily avoided as Wayne pushed her back with a few more slashes.

His nimble opponent, despite the clutter of chairs and tables, gracefully dodged each one of his swings before spinning around with a kick of her own. Wayne blocked and countered with a sweeping kick, which Neo simply flipped over and landed in a one-handed hand stand and spun, lashing out with even more kicks.

Wayne ducked and dodged around the barrage of spinning kicks as he attempted a spinning slash at his upside down opponent's head, only for her to flip back up right and spin around, hooking the handle of her umbrella around Wayne's right leg as she pulled him off balance. Wayne hit the floor and rolled just in time to avoid the sharpened end of Neo's parasol.

Wayne rolled a couple more times, hearing the sound of a blade embed itself in wood as he managed to stay just ahead of Neo's bloodthirsty stabs. In another moment, Wayne rolled under a table to avoid any more jabs. But Neo simply flipped onto the table and began stabbing through the table, forcing Wayne to quickly shift his body left and right to avoid being skewered in the head or heart.

Alright then, thought Wayne as he dropped his left weapon and grabbed onto the blade, stopping it from retreating back through the table as he charged his semblance in his right weapon, try this. Wayne hit the table above him and blasted it apart with a blast larger than his fist, forcing Neo to leap away and leave most of her parasol behind.

"Let's see how you do without this for a bit," said Wayne after rising to his feet and tossing the parasol aside as he used his sleeve wire to pull his other weapon back to him and took a fighting stance. Neo, having landed on another table a few feet away held her smaller blade in her hand, a small smile crossing her face as she made a simple gesture, one which simply said 'bring it on.' In response, Wayne quickly charged his semblance and released a diagonal slash of energy which sliced up several pieces of furniture on its way to its intended target, her smile never once faltering.

Another soldier fell as May ejected the clip from her rifle and slid another one in as she ran to the hallway to find a new position in the building. While she'd managed to pick off a good number of soldiers, she'd been having to move from one building to the next to avoid the White Fang soldier's surprisingly aggressive pursuit of her. They're not after the boys, thought May as she noticed the surprisingly few soldiers trying to get to the town square, they're after me, but what for?

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs drew May's attention as a deer antlered soldier with a cutlass came bounding up the stairs. "She's up here-UFFF," she yelled just as May barreled into her, hitting her in the chest with the butt of her rifle and causing her to roll down the stairs into two more soldiers.

Guess I'm not going that way, thought May as she ran in the other direction, only to be intercepted by two more soldiers coming up the other flight of stairs, one with a mace and another with a pair of daggers. "Come quietly," said the lead soldier, "And the Lieutenant has promised to spare your filthy human life, for now."

"Oh is that how it is," said May as she shifted her rifle as if to put it down on the floor, noting the sound of more footsteps coming up the stairs, "How could I REFUSE!" May swung the bladed back end of her rifle at the first soldier, hitting him in the head and knocking him over as she swung back and struck the other soldier across the face, then again in the head for good measure.

More soldiers came up the stairs behind her as she turned around, holding her rifle by its barrel as she swung and slashed the next soldier across the chest, then kicked another soldier in the stomach as she backed up towards the window to give herself more fighting room. More and more soldiers came up both sets of stairs, boxing May in as she swung her rifle's bladed stock, knocking down soldier after soldier.

This isn't good, she thought as she kicked one soldier over and then jabbed another soldier in the gut with the barrel of her weapon, I'm gonna get overwhelmed if I can't get out of here. As she was thinking this, one of the soldiers managed to get a hold of her rifle and tried to yank it away from her, but May reacted quickly and kicked him in the groin, causing the soldier to double over in pain as she knocked him across the head with her rifle.

"Whose next-," May couldn't finish her sentence as a round from a dust pistol hit her in the shoulder and knocked her over near the window. "It's futile human," said the soldier holding the pistol, a Faunus with raccoon ears, "Like the rest of your race, you will fall, so just surrender and make it easy on yourself."

"I'm from Vacuo prick," said May as she struggled to her feet, using her rifle to support her as she discreetly withdrew a small device from her sleeve and held it up, "We don't know the meaning of the word 'easy'." "Oh # #$," said the raccoon-eared soldier as May pressed the switch on the detonator and jumped for the window.

The force of the resulting explosion pushed May straight through the glass as her body was partially engulfed by flames, smoke, and other debris as she fell from the second floor of the building and onto a stack of old crates.

Not my best laid trap ever, thought May as she rolled over slowly, tensing as she felt pain in her entire body, but I guess that Aegis guy will be happy to know he's not the only one to half fry himself with his own explosion. May took another moment to let her head stop pounding as she looked around for her rifle, spotting it next to the crates. In hindsight, I should've set that charge off when I heard them coming up the stairs, but the look on raccoon ear's face was worth it.

With a little more effort, May pulled herself up and retrieved her rifle, surveying the area as she leaned against what was left of the building. If those guys are just after me then at least they won't be going after Drake and the others. A sudden explosion drew May's attention as she looked back in the direction of the town square. Be careful Drake, she thought, your old buddies have got no problem playing dirty.

Drake barely dodged a swipe from the Lieutenant's chainsaw as he moved around in the mist he'd created not long ago and managed to get a couple of cuts in on the Lieutenant's side. The large Faunus grunted in pain before lashing out with his leg and managed to catch Drake in the stomach. The lucky blow sent Drake out of the mist and through the railing of a small deck as he hit the floor. I'm getting slower, Drake observed as he checked his wounds, noting the pain in his shoulder and leg had gotten a little worse. I'm healed enough they won't reopen, but they're still a problem.

"It seems you're not as healed as you thought," said the Lieutenant as he made his way out of the fading mist, "And if I'm not mistaken, you used up a good amount of your dust in Sol Kaze, so you don't have much more to offer than that smokescreen of yours."

"Nah, I'm good," replied Drake, "Just giving you a handicap is all." "Hmmph, let's see you talk tough after this," said the Lieutenant as he charged at Drake, swinging his chainsaws in a vicious vertical attack.

Guess I have no choice, thought Drake as he tripped the ice dust on his belt and blasted his mist semblance at the Lieutenant. A layer of ice formed on his chainsaw wielding opponent, greatly slowing his movements as Drake maneuvered around the two chainsaws and slashed at the Lieutenant again and again and again, pushing him back further and further until he finished his barrage by sheathing his smaller blade and leaping up, hitting the Lieutenant in the side of the head with his cleaver blade, knocking the Lieutenant into the wall of the building, causing him to drop one of his chainsaws.

"You may as well give it up," said Drake as he redrew his sword and held both blades at the ready, "Aegis has been able to take Exo before and Wayne Ursario has proven to be full of surprises, and May has been doing a spectacular job of keeping your other soldiers at bay."

"Now that is truly funny," said the Lieutenant with a laugh, "You think our soldier's orders were to target you three during the fight?" "It seemed the likely underhanded tactic yes," said Drake, "I know you and Exo wouldn't stand for having them in the way while you were trying to fight."

"Well I'm afraid to say Exo came up with something far more underhanded," said the Lieutenant, "Why have our soldiers spread out trying to keep up with all of you when we can just capture one of you and force a surrender."

"You son of a," Drake was too angry to continue speaking as he realized what the Lieutenant was implying. "By now I imagine my brother and sister soldiers have already captured her, we should be hearing from them in a bit."

"I will," said Drake as he tripped the energy dust canister on his belt, "BUT YOU WON'T!" With a swing of both his blades, Drake created an energized mist which engulfed the small area in front of him before exploding and burying the Lieutenant in a pile of rubble.

Drake collapsed onto one knee as exhaustion finally began to take hold. I've got to get moving, he thought, if they've hurt her. Drake didn't bother finishing the thought as he pushed himself back up to a standing position and began moving towards the last area where he'd heard the crack of May's rifle.

Aegis smashed through the wall of a small building as he attempted to tackle Exo, only for the wolf Faunus to teleport out of his grasp at the last second. Aegis spun around as he held up his weapon, which was currently in the form of a one-sided, curved ax as he blocked Exo's next sword slash.

Aegis pushed Exo away and tried swinging for Exo's head and body, but either missed or was blocked as Exo maneuvered around Aegis. At one point, Aegis managed to get a temporary advantage as he pinned Exo's sword to the ground, but Exo reacted quickly and drew one of his knives as he attempted to stab Aegis in the eye.

But Aegis moved his right hand off his weapon and caught Exo's hand, stopping the blade a few inches from his face as he head butted Exo and kicked him in the gut, causing him to drop his knife as he flew into the wall. As Aegis attempted to bring his ax down on his opponent, Exo teleported behind him where he'd dropped his knife and slashed Aegis across the back, causing him to wince in pain as he stumbled forward from the blow.

Aegis managed to regain his balance in time to bring up Ursus Cleaver to block Exo's next attack, which managed to shatter his ax blade as Exo kicked him into the same wall he'd just been sent into. Aegis slid to the floor after hitting the wall, giving Exo an opening as he swung downward with a nasty vertical slash.

Reacting quickly, Aegis formed a glass bracer around his left wrist and raised his arm to block the blade, holding it hardly a foot away from his head as Exo tried to force the blade downward. "You know I can't remember the last time a huntsman in training gave me this much trouble," said Exo as he forced his blade closer to Aegis's face, causing the glass bracer to crack even more, "You should be proud, I might even let you keep your head after I take your life."

"I appreciate the sentiment," Replied Aegis as he spun the cylinder on his weapon with his right hand, "But I think I'll stick to livin'." Aegis held up his weapon as a blast of fire dust erupted from the end, sending Exo flying backwards and onto the floor cringing. Thank you upgrade, Aegis thought as he got back on his feet and formed several glass spikes on his weapon. "Okay that about tears it," said Exo as he struggled to a kneeling position, "I've about had it with being set on fire this week."

"Hey you know what they say about playing with fire," said Aegis as he approached Exo with his weapon raised. "Actually," said Exo as he suddenly tossed a metal cylinder from his hand which rolled across the floor between Aegis's feet, "This is how I prefer to play with fire." As Exo finished speaking, he teleported out of the building. "Oh this is gonna-," Aegis's last words were cut off as the charge exploded, causing the room to catch fire as it collapsed onto Aegis.

Didn't think I'd have to use that specialized dust grenade, thought Exo as he picked up the dagger he'd teleported to, surveying the small ruined building as it was slowly engulfed in flame, darn things are pricy, but I can't say the results aren't worth the lien.

Taking one last look at the scene before him, Exo sheathed his sword on his back as he turned to leave. I'll come back over in a bit to see if there's anything left, he thought, right now I'd best check in with the troops and-CRASH. Exo's thoughts were interrupted as he turned towards the source of the noise.

At the center of the flaming debris, Exo saw some of the rubble shift suddenly before a large amount of the rubble was suddenly sent flying into the air. What in the world, thought Exo as he peered into the smoke and flames as a figure covered in what appeared to be glass armor stepped through the smoke.

"Oh will you not just die!" exclaimed Exo as Aegis Ursario advanced towards him, his eyes now much redder and more predatory looking, the mark of his activated rage mode as a low growl escaped his throat. "Fine then," said Exo as he pulled his sword off his back again, "I'll just keep skewering you until you're all the way dead." Aegis simply roared as both fighters charged forward, their angry snarls filling the air as their blades clashed.

A Few Minutes Earlier: Restaurant/Theater

Wayne moved out of the way just as Neo's blade came flying out of nowhere, grazing his left side as he fired into the shadows with his left weapon, only managing to tear up more of the floor as he franticly searched the area.

Their fight had moved all around the building in the last few minutes, with both fighters using their semblances in increasing frequency and intensity until it finally brought them to the stage. Now Wayne was fighting both exhaustion from repeated use of his semblance, as well as Neo, who'd managed to get her parasol back, and her glass semblance.

Let's see how you like this, thought Wayne as he managed to load some new ammunition into his weapons, just as Neo appeared again and aimed a kick at Wayne's head, which he barely managed to dodge as he fired the new ammunition at his parasol-wielding opponent. Neo easily dodged the attack as she disappeared in a flash of light again, while Wayne continued firing in her direction for a few moments, the fire dust ammunition he loaded causing the stage to catch fire as the dark interior was illuminated by the flames.

Let's see how you dance around flames, thought Wayne as he fired into the corners of the stage, lighting them on fire as well. As Wayne had hoped, some of the mirror images Neo had created shattered as the girl was forced to leap away from some of the flames.

Without wasting a moment, Wayne fired two-spinning energy rings, which Neo avoided by diving in between them. But Wayne hadn't been aiming for Neo as the rings cut through some of the ropes holding sand bags, causing them to swing towards his opponent.

Neo managed to avoid both bags by nimbly moving side to side before she charged at Wayne, who blasted through the first sand bag with a straight energy beam of his semblance, forcing the parasol girl to move to the side as she continued charging towards Wayne.

This is gonna be close, thought Wayne as he shifted his weapons to sickle form. In the next few moments, time seemed to slow to a crawl as Wayne hooked onto the second sand bag with his right sickle, the blade heated by the fire dust in the clip causing the bag to catch fire as Wayne spun around.

Wayne lowered his stance halfway through the spin as he felt Neo's blade slash across his left shoulder. Wayne grit his teeth against the pain as he completed his spin, slamming the flaming sand bag into his opponent, causing the bag to break apart in a shower of sand and flaming fabric as Neo was sent sliding across the floor. Well that's one good hit for me, thought Wayne, and a dozen minor hits for her, my aura's starting to get low, have to finish this now.

Wayne raced across the stage, quickly closing the gap between him and his opponent as she stopped sliding, bringing his heated blades down on his opponent. But just as his blades sank into his target, her form shattered, leaving behind only glass. Wayne looked around frantically as a dozen images of his foe suddenly appeared on stage, all of them smiling at his confusion. Oh I am not dealing with this crap again, thought Wayne as he began charging his semblance.

Neo didn't plan on giving him any time to charge though as her clones all jumped him at the same time. Wayne managed to avoid the first few as they swiped at him from different angles before they surrounded him in a circle and all attempted to skewer him with their parasol blades at the same time. "Try a new trick," said Wayne as he jumped up to avoid the blades before slamming his fist on the ground, sending out a shockwave which tore up the floor and sent debris flying outward and shattered the glass clones.

Wayne was breathing heavily as he stood back up, surveying the damage to the destroyed and burning stage. She wasn't among the clones, Wayne realized as he started charging his semblance again. I know this isn't the best idea, but her aura should be getting at least somewhat low after all of those mirror images she's pulled and worse comes to worse I've still got the last resort, but if I can get one good hit in I might not even need it.

Wayne caught movement out of the corner of his eye as he spun around, his weapon raised and stopped short at the sight before him. "Hello Wayne, it's been awhile," said the image of Pyrrha with a cheerful smile on her face. Wayne knew she wasn't real, knew it was a trick but he still hesitated a moment despite himself.

A moment was all Neo needed as the image of Pyrrha smirked maliciously before turning back into Neo, who slashed at Wayne's hand where he'd been charging his attack. In his shock, Wayne lost control of his attack as it went flying towards the ceiling, blasting the scaffolding down from the theater ceiling along with several chunks of rubble.

Neo quickly moved out of the way as the scaffolding fell and nailed Wayne in the back, pinning him to the floor as he was buried under small sections of the ceiling. For several moments, Wayne only felt agony as he tried to regain his senses, quickly discovering he could barely move. Of all the tricks to fall for, he thought as he struggled against the rubble, how did I fall for that one? Wayne's strength was sapped from the use of his semblance and worse still Neo was still around.

You never saw her die with your own eyes, Wayne realized, on some level you hoped she was still alive, even though you knew better. The sound of clacking heels and a blade being dragged across what remained of the stage reached Wayne's ears. Now here you are buried under a pile of rubble with few options, well only one option really. "You know what you have to do," said a familiar distorted voice in Wayne's head. "Yeah I know," Wayne practically whispered, "I'd hoped there was another way."

Neo approached the pile of rubble, a satisfied smile on her face as she drug the blade of her parasol across the ruined stage floor. Let's see him get out of this one, thought Neo as she observed the settling dust, trying to spot her prey's prone form as she cautiously circled around the downed scaffolding. Something seems off, Neo noticed, why is some of the dust turning blacker, unless. The scaffolding suddenly shifted violently as it was sent toppling off of the pile of rubble and towards Neo.

The surprised girl moved out of the way as the scaffolding crashed where she'd been. A look of quiet confusion crossed the monochrome girl's face as she looked back towards where her enemy had been buried, only he wasn't buried anymore.

The remaining flames and smoke from the stage seemed to flow around and behind the figure who slowly stood up to his full height, a black silhouette with predatory eyes which settled on Neo. "I guess it's come to this once again," said Wayne, his voice taking on the same menacing tone as before while he grinned predatorily beneath his now cracked mask, "Oh well, I'm always up for a good game of cat and mouse."

On the Hills Overlooking the Town

The air outside of the town was surprisingly still, as the normal sounds of the night were drowned out by the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and the sounds which accompanied a battle. What is going on down there, a woman thought as she looked down upon the town.

The woman was tall with long, black hair, wearing a black and red kimono-like outfit with red bracers and a large, ornate Grimm mask covering her face, while a massive katana blade in a sheath with a revolving dust chamber hung at her side. "Here we are at last," said a bandit who came walking up the hill behind the woman, "Now we can finally relax for a few-WHAT IN THE WORLD?"

The bandit stared dumbfounded at the condition of the town, gaping at the large bullet holes, crashed bullheads, and the fact that a couple of the buildings were demolished. "It seems we have some unwanted guests turning our little hideaway into a war zone," said the woman, "Alert the rest of the tribe, we move on the town, now."

 **And that brings us to the end of this latest chapter.** **First off, sorry if this chapter seemed to come out a little late, writing four different view points can get kind of tricky. Secondly, I realized I wasn't terribly specific about how I planned on revealing my choice for Wayne's girlfriend. For now, the plan is to reveal who it is in the future chapters, and in a somewhat subtle way if I can, unless I'm suddenly flooded with messages demanding I reveal the love interest in my next announcement. Once again I'd like to thank my reviewers, followers and viewers for helping me solve the dilemma of Wayne's love life, and for over 8,000 views. It's truly encouraging and it keeps me writing so thank you everyone. Come by next time as the Ursario's have a run in with another member of the frightening Branwen family. 'Til next time.**


	50. Lady Branwen and Her Band of Bandits

**Lady Branwen and Her Band of Bandits**

Abandoned Town

The White Fang Lieutenant groaned in pain as he shifted in the rubble as an annoying static sound kept ringing in his ears. Just barely managed to survive that attack, thought the Lieutenant as his vision cleared enough for him to look around a bit. It cost both of my chainsaws, but I managed to block the brunt of the attack. The large Faunus shifted as he moved the rest of the rubble off of himself.

"Lieutenant come in," said a worried voice over his radio. "What is it?" asked the Lieutenant as he struggled to his feet. "One of the bullheads just got hit, the other men are reporting being under attack by some kind of bandits," said the soldier over the radio. "Bandits?" questioned the Lieutenant, "How many are there?" "We're not certain," replied the soldier, "But they've got some power house in a cloak, and a woman wearing a Grimm mask tearing through our ranks like they're nothing." The Lieutenant's eyes widened under his mask as he realized the severity of the situation.

"We don't have the numbers left to deal with a bandit attack," said the Lieutenant as he began moving as quickly as his injured body would allow, "I'm calling a full retreat right now, anyone who's not at the bullheads in five minutes will have to make it on foot to the fallback position." "Acknowledged sir, broadcasting to all remaining units," said the soldier before his transmission cut out.

A whole operation blown, thought the Lieutenant as he moved towards the edge of the town where a bullhead was located, by a mass amount of unpleasant surprises and a bandit attack. The Lieutenant rounded a corner as he saw the waiting bullhead in sight at the town side entrance. Why in the world would bandits be attacking an abandoned town anyway, thought the Lieutenant.

May peeked out from behind a corner as she heard more footsteps coming her way. Their numbers have definitely dwindled, thought May, but I've run out of traps so I'm just gonna have to be extra creative. As she was thinking this, the sound of footsteps drew her attention as she spun around with her rifle raised, only for a hand to cover her mouth and grab hold of her weapon. "Shhh," said Drake as he let go of May's rifle and held a finger to his lips, "We need to move quietly, there's another problem," said Drake as he looked around cautiously.

"Drake," whispered May as she also scanned the area, "Why have the soldiers been chasing me?" "They wanted a hostage," replied Drake as he started moving down the wall of the building, "That was their whole big plan behind this little showdown of theirs." "Oh now that is just typical," May scoffed as she and Drake moved into the shadow of another building, "Kidnap the girlfriend, I mean come on, why not set up some trap or have the soldiers waiting in the buildings?"

"A bunch of soldiers firing randomly at the first person to run through the doors of certain buildings," said Drake, "I doubt even the Lieutenant has that much faith in his grunt's marksmanship." "Good point," May admitted as she and Drake watched several White Fang troops run by. "That's odd," said Drake as he peeked out from behind the corner. "What is it," asked May as some movement across from them caught her eye. "The soldiers are retreating," Drake observed, "That's good."

"Uh Drake," said May as some unfamiliar figures began creeping out of the shadows. "It means Wayne and Aegis probably won," said Drake, not quite noticing May's concern, "We might actually be okay." "I wouldn't be so sure," said May as she finally got Drake's attention, "We got a new problem."

"What is," Drake looked behind him where May was pointing, noting that several bandits were creeping out of the shadows with their weapons trained on them, "It?" "The chief would like to have a word with you two," said one of the bandits, "I'd recommend not trying anything funny."

Exo winced in pain as he flew into the wall of a nearby building. Nothing like flying clear across the street, he thought as he shakily rose to his feet. As he did so, Aegis came into view, his now red animalistic eyes tracking Exo's every move. Got no choice, thought Exo as he pulled out his remaining knives and tossed them in multiple places around Aegis.

His opponent simply stopped and waited as Exo held his sword in hand and teleported to the first thrown knife and swung at Aegis's head. But Aegis caught the sword with his hand, his # # regular hand and quickly countered with his weapon, which was currently a hardened black glass ax.

Exo teleported again and swung, then again as he aimed for Aegis's blind spots. But his speed was blinding as both of Exo's blows were blocked by a glass ax, as Aegis remained standing where he was, only moving enough to block or dodge, his head whipping around savagely as he tried to locate where his quarry would strike next. He's gotten better control of his rage mode, thought Exo as he kept teleporting and attacking, when we fought at the Vytal festival he was just lashing out and managed to bury his knives in rubble, making it physically impossible for him to teleport to the location but now.

Aegis's anger was more directed, focused on his target instead of blindly lashing out at anything that seemed threatening, he even began to see a pattern in his opponent's movements as he continued blocking and dodging Exo's swings. As Exo appeared to strike again, Aegis allowed the glass on his ax to shatter, showering his opponent's face and upper body with glass shards, causing him to temporarily lose focus as he tried to brush the glass shards out of his eyes. Taking the opening, Aegis delivered a vicious punch to Exo's gut, the force of which lifted him off his feet and sent him sliding along the ground a short distance.

Spinning the cylinder on his weapon, Aegis quickly formed a stone hammer as he approached his quarry. But as he was about to strike the final blow, he picked up a strange scent as the sound of footsteps alerted him to the presence of a newcomer. Aegis turned his head as an average-sized girl wearing a bright green cloak covering all but her boots came walking into view. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she said as she approached Aegis and Exo, "But our leader would like to have a word with you, uh which one of you is not White Fang?"

"Oh that's just great," said Exo, recognizing the garb of a bandit on the newcomer, "Sucks to be you bear # #." With a quick movement of his arm, Exo scooped up one of the knives on the ground and tossed it far away. Aegis snarled as he realized what Exo was up to and quickly swung the stone hammer. But once again, Exo managed to teleport away and out of sight as Aegis cratered the ground with the impact of his swing.

"Oh, that was too close," said Exo as his radio suddenly began buzzing. "This is a priority alert, bandits are swarming the town, all soldiers are to retreat immediately, anyone not on the bullhead in five minutes will be left behind." Oh Adam is not gonna be happy about this, thought Exo as he began making his way to the nearest bullhead, I'm gonna have to lay low in the Mistral underworld for a while, maybe Neo can help me get my hands on some better weaponry. Exo turned a corner as he saw one of the few remaining undamaged bullheads. But first things first, I need to get out of here.

"Oh well that's unfortunate," said the girl as she made her way forward, "But I guess that's one less person I have to-." Aegis cut her off with an enraged roar as he charged at the newcomer with a wide swing of his weapon. Oh right he's enraged, thought the girl as she planted her foot and brought up her hands in a defensive stance. As Aegis's swing was about to impact, she lunged forward with a palm strike glowing with yellow energy.

As the two attacks impacted, the stone hammer shattered completely, causing Aegis to stumble backwards as he stared dumbfounded at his weapon. What kind of power was that, thought Aegis as his rage mode began to fade and rational thought returned to him. "You do have a good bit of strength," said the girl as she examined her hand, which was hardly scratched at all, "But you messed up by trying to use earth dust against me, not that you could've known that."

Aegis simply stared for a few moments as the difference between their strengths became obvious. "W-what the heck are you," asked Aegis as every instinct he had told him not to mess with this newcomer. "Right now I'm just the messenger," said the girl, "And an escort, but so long as you don't try causing any trouble then the leader probably won't kill you."

"Probably," Aegis questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Well she gets in a bad mood sometimes and things tend to get sliced up when that happens," replied the girl, "So to avoid that I'd advise you come along with me, her patience is a little worn right now." Aegis thought for a moment before nodding as the girl began leading the way.

"Just so we're clear," said Aegis as he came into step beside the woman, "I'll follow along for now, but if you want my full cooperation then my weapon does not leave my hands and you don't touch my friends." "Well then we'd best hope your friends aren't the type to do anything overly stupid," replied the girl as they headed towards a less destroyed part of the town.

By Abandoned Town Square

Neo leaped out of the window of the second floor as a whole section of the building she was just in exploded, sending smoke and debris flying everywhere. As she twisted in the air, the figure of Wayne Ursario, shrouded in black mist, leaped out of the building's dust cloud, his sickles barred as he attempted to slice her head off. Reacting as quickly as she could, Neo arched her body as she felt the sickles tear through her already tattered jacket and pass mere centimeters by her skin.

Just missed, thought Wayne as he landed several feet away from his opponent turned prey, I overshot the jump a bit, still not quite used to using this ability against an actual opponent. Wayne looked over towards Neo, who was no longer smiling as she tore off what little remained of her jacket and held her parasol up in a defensive stance. "You smell a bit different now," said Wayne as he took a step forward, causing Neo to tense up a little, "If I'm not mistaken, I think I smell fear."

This comment seemed to enrage his adversary a bit as she charged at him with a quick series of jabs and swipes with her parasol. She seems slower now, thought Wayne as he blocked and dodged around his opponent's attacks as he looked for an opening in her defenses, this enhanced speed and perception is something else. As Neo spun around for another kick at his head, Wayne ducked and spun as he delivered a kick of his own to her midsection, sending her several feet away as she rolled once before righting herself in a half-kneeling position.

"Oh that reminds me," said Wayne as he stood back up, "You wanted to know what happened to Torchwick." Neo's eyes narrowed at the comment as Wayne began slowly advancing towards her. "Long story short, that cane twirling douche bag was eaten by a Griffon," said Wayne as he smirked under his mask, "In the middle of monologueing about surviving of all things, I don't know about you but that just seems absolutely hilarious to-," Wayne stopped speaking as another scent entered his nostrils, the scent of blood and death.

Wayne stopped walking and put his sickles together into their blade staff form as he turned his head towards the source of the scent just as an unknown woman stepped into view. She was a tall woman with long black hair wearing a black and red kimono with a short skirt, red armored gauntlets, and long boots which came up to her knees. But what really drew Wayne's attention was the impressively long Katana she carried and the large Grimm mask she wore on her face. "One second," said Wayne as he glanced at Neo before moving at full speed towards the newcomer, swinging his blade staff with all his might.

Just as Wayne got close, the woman drew her sword with blinding speed as the two weapons clashed, creating a shockwave which destroyed a section of wall directly behind the woman. She's on the level of a huntress, thought Wayne as the woman stood seemingly unfazed by the clash of their weapons, a really strong huntress. "I'm surprised," said the woman as she pushed back against Wayne, "I didn't think your father would actually teach you this ability."

Wayne was caught off guard, not only by the woman's statement, but by something else. Wayne jumped back as he glanced at Neo, who actually had a look of fear on her face as she retracted the blade on her umbrella. "So you guys aren't working together then?" Wayne asked the woman. As if in answer, Neo used her semblance to create a flash of light, temporarily blinding Wayne as she seemed to vanish without a trace.

"I guess that's a no," said Wayne as he turned his attention back towards the woman, "So I guess the only question now is 'who are you' and 'what do you want?'" "For the moment I'm not your enemy," replied the woman as she sheathed her sword, "So you can stop generating that mist now, before you draw in more Grimm."

Wayne wanted to protest, but in the end he knew he was in no shape for a drawn out fight with whoever this was, especially considering the fact that he had a few questions for her. So in the end, Wayne simply sighed as he ended the aura shadow and disassembled his staff, putting his Crescent Fangs back in his coat as he tried not to stagger from the after effects of the aura shadow. "Tell me something," said Wayne as he removed his mask, "Do the names Xiaolong or Branwen mean anything to you?"

The woman gripped her sword for a moment, causing Wayne to tense up before she relaxed. "That nose of yours is as irritating as your mother's," said the woman as she reached up and removed her own mask, "To think you'd actually notice the similarities between our scents." "You, you're," Wayne couldn't find any words for a moment. The woman looked like a more mature, red-eyed, dark-haired version of Yang.

"You're Raven Branwen, you're Yang's Mom!" exclaimed Wayne. In an instant, she had drawn her sword and pointed it at Wayne's throat. "Yes I am, and if you want to leave here in one piece then you will do well to keep it a secret," she said as she sheathed her sword again, "Now come along, I imagine by now the rest of your friends have been rounded up, assuming they didn't do anything unwise." Not wanting a sword pointed at his throat again, Wayne followed along.

"So how did you know we were here," asked Wayne. "I didn't," replied Raven, "My tribe uses this abandoned town as a temporary living area when we get tired of traveling around, now it's gonna take some convincing to get them to not kill you." "Oh," said Wayne as he rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry about that, hadn't originally planned on turning the place into a warzone when we first got here." "You're lucky I sent scouts out first, I had greatly considered simply going in and cutting you all down," Said Raven, "Well I guess our luck comes and goes," said Wayne as they walked in silence for a moment.

"This is kind of funny," said Wayne as he snickered a little at a sudden thought. "What is," asked Raven as they turned a corner. "It's just, my Dad told me about you and Qrow back in your academy days, he said he hit on you on the first day of school," Wayne couldn't help himself as he began to laugh, "He said you chased him all over the courtyard swinging your sword like a maniac, all because he said you had a great $$."

"Oh yes, how could I forget that," said Raven as she massaged her temple, remembering the embarrassing incident, "How are Tobias and Jen doing anyway?" "Fine last I heard," replied Wayne, "The spike in Grimm activity has been keeping them extra busy though." "And what do they think of their sons running around Mistral fighting the White Fang and tearing up small towns," asked Raven. "They're gonna be mad when they find us," said Wayne as he rubbed the back of his head, "We didn't exactly ask their permission before we went on this little journey."

"Well in that case," said Raven as they approached the town square where a large number of bandits had gathered, as well as Aegis, May, Drake and a mysterious girl in a bright green cloak, "I won't tell them where to find you and your brother so long as you don't tell Yang or any of her friends that you met me, deal?" Wayne sighed as he answered. "I don't like it, but I guess I don't have much of a choice."

"Not if you want to get to Haven to see your friends," said Raven as they entered the square. As they did, one of the bandits, who was fairly upset walked over to Raven. "We've run the remaining White Fang forces out of the town, but why are we not just killing these other troublemakers?" "Because," said Raven, "Hard as it may be to believe if we kill them we'll only bring more trouble to ourselves."

"How, what's so special about these kids?" asked the bandit as Wayne went to stand by Aegis and the others. "These two are the sons of Jen and Tobias Ursario," said Raven as she indicated Wayne and Aegis, "These boy's parents saved my life on a couple of occasions, and Aegis here was personally tutored by my brother Qrow, among other reasons."

The rest of the bandits were clearly surprised by this as murmuring spread through the tribe. "Wow I suddenly feel important," said Aegis as he rested his hands behind his head. "Your family knows this bandit leader?" asked Drake as Raven continuing speaking to the tribe. "They met her back in their academy days," replied Wayne as he sat down next to the others, his exhaustion becoming more evident. "So it is her then," said Aegis, "Raven Branwen." "Branwen," said Drake, "As in a relative of Qrow Branwen?" "His sister actually," said Wayne. "Oh that is awesome," said Aegis as he began laughing, "You know dad once tried hitting on her in the academy?" "Yeah I brought that up already," said Wayne.

"Wonder what your Mom thought of that?" said May. "Actually her and Raven got along great at the academy," said Wayne, "They used to give dad such a hard time when their teams hung out, that is until they saw him go all out in a fight." "But what does this mean for us?" asked Drake. "Hopefully it means they won't behead us in the next five minutes," said Wayne as he glanced at the cloaked figure who was currently healing May's wounds. "Considering the size of that lady's sword," whispered May, "She could probably behead us all in one slash."

"By the way," asked Wayne, "Who's the girl in the cloak?" "For now, I'm your doctor," answered the girl as she moved over to Wayne and began examining his wounds. "Try not to make her mad Wayne," said Aegis, "She's a whole lot stronger than she looks." "You should be more worried about your current health as it is," said the girl, "You've been allowing negative energy to freely flow through your body, even if it's from your own soul prolonged exposure can still be detrimental."

"It just takes some getting used to is all," said Wayne as he rolled back the sleeve on his other arm for the girl to examine, "My body just needs more time to adjust to it." "Even the masters of the aura shadow had their limits Wayne Ursario," said the girl, "You'd do well to remember that." "How do you even know about this technique?" asked Wayne as the girl began using her aura to heal him.

"I saw your father use it once," said Raven as she made her way back over to the group, "Just like I saw your mother's rage mode, both were quite fearsome but they do not make you invincible, you'd do best to remember that." "Believe me we've heard the spiel before," said Aegis, "But if you want to give us some tips, how about we start with some of the tips you gave drunk teacher Qrow, like where that Cinder lady is and what the heck was under Beacon tower?"

"Aegis," said Wayne, "Let's try not to anger the bandit leader." "No I want to know," said Aegis as he stood up angrily, "Qrow and Ozpin kept secrets from us, from everyone and because of those secrets Beacon fell and two of our friends are gone." "Aegis you're still feeling some effects from the rage mode," said Wayne as he put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "We'll get answers when we get to Haven, I imagine Qrow or the academy's headmaster know all about this, so for now just calm down."

Raven sighed before she spoke, "You'll find out sooner or later so I may as well tell you, come with me, it's best if we discuss this privately." Reluctantly, everyone stood up and followed Raven to a nearby building as she gave out some more orders to the rest of the bandits.

After a minute, they arrived at some sort of private residence, the one Raven usually stayed at when her tribe stopped at the abandoned town. "Now I think the first thing you need to know," said Raven as they all sat down in what appeared to be a living room, "Is that even as powerful as Cinder is now she is just another pawn, your real enemy is an incredibly powerful being known as Salem, and what she wants are four maidens, and four relics which have been around since the creation of human and Faunus kind."

Everyone shifted uncomfortably as Raven paused to ask a question of her own. "Tell me, how many fairy tales do you know about the creation of this world?"

 **And so at last team WA learns the secret reason behind Beacon's destruction, and met Yang's mom. This also draws us to a close on the 50th chapter of this fan fiction, so I'd like to say thank you my reviewers, followers, and viewers for sticking with the story and following team WA's journey through Beacon and beyond. But don't worry, the story's not over yet as team WA will have to make a faithful decision next chapter as Raven presents them with a choice on how best to deal with the threat to Haven. 'Til next time.**


	51. On the Road Again and Through the Portal

**On the Road Again, and Through the Portal**

Abandoned/Bandit Townhouse

Wayne examined the cracks in his mask as Aegis sat across from him in a separate seat adjusting the rotating cylinder in his weapon while May helped Drake examine his rifle as they sat together on the only couch in the room. Raven Branwen had stepped out temporarily to help the tribe deal with a small party of Grimm, leaving behind her mysterious assistant.

"Here let me take a look at that," said the green cloaked girl, who simply introduced herself as Sia, an obviously false name but everyone else was more concerned with what they'd just learned. "This is good material," said Sia as she turned the mask over in her hand. "Battle grade tough, or so I was told," said Wayne, "It's definitely made out of a similar material to a helmet I wear."

"What happened to the helmet," asked Sia. "That was me unfortunately," said Drake, "We fought in the Vytal Festival and I kind of cracked the side of his helmet and shattered the eye visors, looking back on it I'm actually a little embarrassed." "Well no need to worry too much, the helmet's been fixed," said Wayne, "I'm just not wearing it right now, too recognizable."

"Well a cracked mask is a bit conspicuous too," said Sia as green energy suddenly flowed from her hands, causing the cracks in the mask to recede until they were gone, "There we go." Sia handed the mask back to Wayne, who examined it carefully for a few moments. "Handy trick," said Wayne. "I reinforced it a bit too," said Sia, "It should be able to take more of a beating now, you're gonna need it the next time you run into Salem's underlings."

"I'm still having a hard time believing it," said Drake, "I knew the White Fang was being used to some extent, but I thought it stopped at Cinder and her goals, but to think we've actually been pawns helping a being bent on world chaos." "And to do it she needs four magical relics and four magical girls," said Aegis, "Well three magical girls now that Cinder killed the girl in the vault under Beacon tower."

"I believe they were called 'maidens,'" said May, "Not 'magical girls.'" "Yeah but they can use magic without dust," said Aegis, "So the maidens are 'magical girls' too," Aegis, despite the mood, still used air quotes when he mentioned magical girls. "Well either way," groaned May, "Now that we know about them what to do we do next?"

"Well you can probably still head to Haven," said Sia, "It'll be a lot easier to locate something stationery like one of the relics, and if you can get to the headmaster and warn him in time, then you can probably prevent Haven from becoming another Beacon." "I'm not so sure," said Drake, "The headmaster of Haven is formidable, but Cinder has the powers of a maiden now, power enough to supposedly overcome Ozpin and with Salem and the White Fang's support she has an army of Grimm and fanatical soldiers at her disposal."

"Then perhaps you can try reducing their numbers beforehand," said Raven as she entered the room and set her sword down beside the only remaining chair in the room before sitting down herself, removing her mask as she did so, "These halls echo a bit, I couldn't help but overhear your little dilemma." "Well we know we can't hit this Grimm lady, Salmon or whatever she's called," said Aegis.

"Salem," Wayne corrected Aegis. "Right," said Aegis as he continued, "So we can only hit the White Fang at the moment, which reminds me, you got the rest of that data on you Drake?" "As a matter of fact," Drake withdrew his scroll and pulled up a group of files titled 'W.F.', "I had planned on giving the rest of it to the two of you after this little discussion, but I suppose now's as good a time as any." "May I take a look at it first," asked Raven as she held out her hand. Drake was reluctant at first, but after a nod from everyone else, he handed his scroll over to the red-eyed woman.

Raven's eyes moved quickly over the screen for a few seconds as she read bits and pieces of one of the main files. "So this really is how they plan on taking down Haven, and there are even details here on overthrowing Sienna Khan," said Raven as she handed the scroll back to Drake, "I'm impressed you were able to get this data." "It was tricky, but I managed to download the files before they completely locked out my access," said Drake.

"Sienna Khan," said Wayne, rubbing his chin in thought, "If I remember correctly he's like one of the big leaders in the White Fang, or so Blake told me." "Not just one of the big leaders," said May, "He's the de facto leader that succeeded Ghira Belladona." "Wait Belladona, that's the same last name as-," "Blake," Drake continued for Aegis, "And that's because Ghira Belladona is her father, and the current chief of Menagerie."

"Wow," said Aegis, "She wasn't kidding when she said she was born into the White Fang, does that make her some kind of heir to the White Fang or something?" "Only if her father or her decides to-," Drake trailed off as an idea occurred to him, "Wait maybe that could work." "What could?" Asked Wayne. "The way to reduce the White Fang's numbers," said Drake, "If Ghira or Blake becomes the leader of the White Fang then they can call off the White Fang's war, leaving only the ones who are loyal to Adam."

"Well that could work," said Wayne, "But getting all the way to Menagerie is a bit of a problem." "Well you could take the data to Ironwood's current top operative in Mistral," said Sia, "She's been trying to find data on the White Fang for months, and she should be somewhere around Haven right about now." "Well that will save a lot of traveling," said May, "So who is the operative anyway." "I believe her name is Winter Schnee," replied Sia as she tilted her head in thought. "Oh," said Wayne, "That might be a bit of a problem then."

"Why's that," asked Sia. "Well I am a former officer of the White Fang," said Drake, "It's possible she won't trust the data if I say it's from me, but we can work around that issue." "We can," said Wayne, "But that's not the only reason she might not want to listen." "What's the issue," asked May. Wayne sighed before he spoke, "Tell 'em Aegis."

"Well we kind of spray painted a giant black # # on the side of her ship when she visited Beacon," said Aegis as he laughed a bit in embarrassment, "It was not the original plan, but that's what wound up happening." "You two painted a giant black # # on the side of a Schnee's personal ship?" asked Raven. "Well I wanted to write something clever," said Aegis, "And when Wayne tried to stop me well-," "I wound up making it worse," Wayne said, drooping his head in embarrassment as he finished the explanation.

A moment passed before Drake, May and Sia burst out laughing, while Raven simply put her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "You accidently painted a giant what," asked Sia as she continued laughing. "In all my time in the White Fang, never once did it occur to me to paint something like that on the side of Winter Schnee's ship," said Drake as he tried to breathe, "How are you two not in an Atlesian prison right now?"

"Well I guess Weiss put in a good word for us," said Wayne as he shrugged, "After giving us a good piece of her mind." "Too bad we can't give her a call," Aegis pointed out, "Even if reception didn't suck up here, her prick of a dad hasn't been letting any of us talk to her, and let's not even mention getting to Atlas."

Raven closed her eyes in thought before sighing, drawing everyone's attention to her. "I suppose there's no choice then," she said. "Are you sure Chief," asked Sia. "I warned Qrow before that Beacon would fall and they were still caught unprepared, and while I have no interest in the kingdom's affairs, the fall of another academy will threaten us all." "You got a plan of some sort," asked Wayne. "Not exactly," said Raven, "What I do have is a way for you to get to Menagerie or Atlas, or both within a matter of minutes."

"You can do that?" asked Aegis, a bit skeptically. "Yes," replied Raven, "I can create portals to other locations, but first you need to decide where you want to go and who's going, because I only have the strength to open a maximum of two portals to such long distances before I need to recharge my aura." "How long do we have to decide?" asked Wayne.

"The tribe will want you gone as soon as possible," said Raven as she stood up, "Many of them are still unhappy about the damage to our little temporary town, so if you can't decide by tomorrow we'll have to send you on to Haven," Raven turned to leave with Sia close behind her, "Oh and I should tell you now, I have a rule, I will help you once but no more than that, so once I send you where you want to go, you'll have to find your own way back." With that last comment, Raven and Sia left the room.

"Well I guess we'd better decide," said May, "But by the sound of it we need to at least send someone to go to Atlas or Menagerie." "We'd probably have a better chance sending someone to Menagerie," said Drake, "Blake is likely there right now actually." "And you know this how?" asked Wayne with a raised eyebrow.

"I saw her after the battle of Beacon for a few moments as she was leaving," said Drake in a somewhat somber tone, "I asked her where she was going and she told me she was going home, and her home, like so many other Faunus, is Menagerie." "Okay," said Aegis, "We send a couple people to Menagerie to try and get the White Fang off our backs and everyone else goes to Haven and meets team RNJR." Everyone except Wayne nodded at this statement.

"We need someone to go to Atlas too," said Wayne. "I'm not sure if that's really necessary," said May, "I mean with the White Fang's numbers reduced is there even a need to pass on the information to this Schnee lady?" "There's no guarantee that Ghira or Blake will be able to take back control of the White Fang even with help," said Wayne, "And after what happened to Beacon we can't leave anything to chance, so we need to get to Weiss and she can help us convince Winter that the info is genuine."

"Oh can I go," said Aegis excitedly, "I've always wanted to see the Schnee mansion." "You mean you've always wanted to spray paint it and draw funny pictures on their sculptures," said Wayne as he shook his head. "Well yeah," said Aegis, "But I mean given the circumstances I believe I can put that aside for the sake of saving Haven and seeing my friend again." "Even if that statement wasn't half bull # $#," said Wayne, "You and I both know that any stranger with animal features will probably be thrown out of the mansion, even if we are Weiss's friends."

"And I doubt a complete stranger would be a good idea either," said May, "So I guess that means you drew the short stick on this one Wayne." "Yeaaah," said Wayne with a mixture of joy and foreboding, "Not looking forward to meeting the rest of her family." "Well going by that logic," said Aegis, "I'd best head to Menagerie, I've got ears and the White Fang doesn't have an actual bounty on my head, I think." "Well then I guess it's on to Haven for us two," said May as she crossed her arms, "Do you two mind if we borrow your bikes?"

Abandoned Town: The Next Day

The day was cloudy, but patches of sunlight still managed to get through as Wayne, Aegis, and the others joined up and made their way out of the estate with everything they would need for their respective journeys. "I can't say this is my favorite plan ever," said Drake.

"We went over all the other options," replied Wayne, "While it's true we'd really only need one person to get to Haven with the data there's no telling what else you might run into on the way there, and since it's too risky for Drake to go to Menagerie or the Schnee manor, you get to be the bike messenger."

"One of the bike messengers," added May, "And by the sound of it, Blake and Weiss would do well to see some of their Beacon friends right about now." "I know, I know," relented Drake, "I just feel like I should be there to help fix the White Fang." "Cheer up panther boy," said May with a wink, "It just means you and I get a lot more alone time now." "And now I need to go shudder," said Aegis, getting a short laugh out of everyone as they approached the town square where Raven, with her Grimm mask on, Sia and several other bandits were waiting.

"So have you decided then," asked Raven. "Yes," replied Wayne, "We're gonna need two portals, one to Schnee manor in Atlas and one to Menagerie." "So you've decided to take both roads then," said Raven as she unsheathed her katana. "Three roads actually," said Drake, "Me and May will be taking the motorcycles to Haven if you'll allow it." "Very well," said Raven as she motioned towards Aegis and Wayne, "Step forward."

Aegis began walking forward, while Wayne held back for a moment. "Here," said Wayne as he produced an envelope from his coat and handed it to Drake, "If you can, deliver this message when you get to Haven, oh and if you bump into team RNJR before we get there, tell them we'll be there soon, it'll just take a little longer than expected." "I suppose I owe you that much," said Drake, "Consider it done." Wayne nodded as he turned to join Aegis. "Good luck you two," Yelled May.

"Just be sure to take care of our bikes," Aegis called back as he and Wayne stood ready. With two swift swings of her red-bladed katana, Raven cut two large glowing red portals. "The one on the right leads to Menagerie and the one on the left leads to Atlas," said Raven.

"Well I guess this is where we part ways for a bit," said Wayne as he turned to his brother. "Well then you'd better take these," said Aegis as he handed Wayne some black markers and a spray paint can. "Really bro," said Wayne. "Hey just in case," said Aegis as he held his hands up defensively, "But if you do use them, could you take some pictures and send 'em to me." "Have I ever told you how off-the-wall my life has been having you for a little brother?" asked Wayne.

"You could stand to mention it more," said Aegis as he and Wayne grasped hands and pulled in for a 'bro' hug. "Be careful little brother," said Wayne as he and Aegis separated. "Don't have too much fun without me," said Aegis as they stepped towards the portals. Here we go, thought Wayne nervously as he stood before the portal, just one little leap to a whole other continent, simple. Taking in a deep breath, the Ursario brothers stepped into the portals and where sent off to two strange new lands.

 **And so team WA's journey has now taken them down two separate paths, both filled with their own unique challenges. First, as you've noticed, the action will be slowing down a little bit, but I'll try to keep things as entertaining as I can. Second, I'll be honest, I had a hard time deciding whether or not this should be the ending to volume four, but I still have a few ideas I want to crank out, so the story shall go on. Once more, thank you to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers who have read this story and even given me helpful input and the encouragement to keep writing. So be sure to drop in next time as Wayne and Aegis meet the families of some of their friends. 'Til next time.**


	52. The Occasional Problems With Fast Travel

**The Occasional Problems with Fast Travel**

Menagerie: Outskirts of Kuo Kuana

A red portal opened in the desert land outside of the town. In another moment, Aegis Ursario came walking, or rather staggering out of the portal. "Oh, oh gosh," said Aegis as he bent over, trying not to hurl, "And I thought seasickness was bad."

After the passage of another few moments, and Aegis was positive he wasn't about to lose his lunch, he stood back up and took in his surroundings, which, other than the city a short distance away, was not much. Right, thought Aegis, I remember now, this continent is two-thirds uninhabitable.

Aegis began trekking towards the city, trying to think on where he should start his search for Blake and her family, and why two-thirds of the island was uninhabited. Let's see, he thought, most of the uninhabitable land is desert and what else was there, I remember it being something important.

As if in answer to Aegis's question, the sand began shifting beneath him, forcing him to leap backwards as a death stalker emerged from the sand, screeching as it searched the area with its eight eyes. "Are you for real right now," yelled Aegis in frustration, "I haven't been here for five minutes." The death stalker growled as its eyes settled on Aegis. Now I remember the other reason, thought Aegis as he drew his weapon from his back, the wildlife is extra dangerous on the other two-thirds of this continent.

Atlas: The Schnee Manor

All there seemed to be were swirling colors of red and black, and a strange feeling of being propelled forward. After what seemed like a few minutes to Wayne, the portal began to dissipate as Wayne stepped out onto a fancy blue floor in a rather well-decorated room. Wayne took another step forward and had to catch himself on a nearby, and rather fancy, sink as a sudden wave of nausea came over him.

How does that lady travel like that, thought Wayne as he tried to catch his breath, this is almost as bad as the time I got food poisoning from Nora when she tried to cook. Wayne took a few more breaths as his nausea began to clear. At least I'm in a bathroom, thought Wayne as he took in his surroundings, the nicest, fanciest, most decorated bathroom I've ever seen, is this sink made of real marble?

Wayne looked around the bathroom for another minute until he remembered why he was there. Focus Wayne, he thought as he shook his head and turned towards the door, fate of Haven and Remnant at stake here, admire the overly fancy bathroom later. Taking a deep breath, Wayne pushed open the door and walked out into the rest of the mansion. Well the color scheme's nice, thought Wayne as he began walking down the white and blue hallways, which were heavily decorated with candles, paintings, furniture, the occasional plant or statue.

Are those suits of armor, thought Wayne as he passed by a large stairway, is this a mansion or a freakin' castle? As he continued to walk, a rather large painting caught Wayne's eye as he stopped to look at it for a moment.

"Hmmm," Wayne wondered aloud. So this is the whole Schnee family in this picture, thought Wayne, and the only person who's even remotely smiling is Weiss's prick of a Dad, well I guess that figures. As Wayne turned to keep heading down the hall, he picked up the sound of footsteps as a guard in Atlesian armor stepped around the corner.

"Hey who are you?" asked the soldier as he pulled an extendable sword from his back and pointed it at Wayne. "Oh hey," said Wayne as he raised his hands up in the least hostile gesture he could muster, "Sorry to drop in unannounced but I kind of need to talk to my friend, it's kind of urgent."

"I've never seen you around here before," said the soldier in a no-nonsense tone, "And we don't give hand-outs to fur coat wearing rats who sneak in here." "No seriously," said Wayne as the soldier forced him to turn around and started trying to herd him to the main entrance, "Call Weiss Schnee, just tell her Wayne Ursario's here to see her, she'll know who I am."

"Even if I did believe you, and I don't," stated the guard, "Mr. Schnee has instructed us to let only those approved by him into the mansion to see his daughter, and your name is definitely not on the list." "Well I guess there's no being nice about this then," sighed Wayne as he spun around and grabbed the guard's sword arm before elbowing him in the face.

The guard let out a surprised grunt as Wayne twisted his sword out of his hand and kicked the guard in the stomach, knocking him into the wall before he sank into one of the black chairs conveniently placed in the hallway. "Sorry about this," said Wayne as he quickly repositioned the unconscious guard into a sitting position on the chair, "Just know I wouldn't have knocked you out if this wasn't super important." Yeah, that's a great apology, thought Wayne.

"Hey what the heck do you think you're doing," called another guard as he rounded the opposite corner. "Uh, this isn't what it looks like," said Wayne as he held up his hands with the other guard's sword still in his grasp. It only took a moment for the guard to notice his unconscious co-worker.

"Why you little," said the guard as he went for his pistol. Wayne, reacting as fast as he could, threw the weapon in his hand like a spear with the handle of the weapon impacting against the guard's helmet, causing him to stagger backwards as Wayne rushed forward, quickly covering the few feet between them as he kicked the guard over and punched him in the face for good measure.

"Again sorry," said Wayne, "But I really don't have time to make an appointment." As Wayne finished saying this, a third guard came running down the hallway, apparently hearing some of the commotion. "What's going on over here," demanded the guard. Oh come on, thought Wayne, give me a break.

Menagerie: Kuo Kuana Outskirts

Just break already, thought Aegis as he slammed a stone morning-star on the Deathstalker's claws, only causing slight cracks in the armor. Aegis jumped back, narrowly avoiding the Grimm's glowing stinger as he charged and swung again. But as before, the armor on the Grimm's claw held as it knocked Aegis back with a swipe of its other claw. This Grimm is a little older than some of the other deathstalkers I've fought, thought Aegis, with tougher armor to boot.

The Grimm roared as it lashed out with its stinger again, forcing Aegis to roll to the side to avoid the blow. Without Wayne here it'll take forever to break through its shell, thought Aegis as he began circling around the Deathstalker, gonna need another approach. Spinning the cylinder on his weapon, Aegis reformed the glass into a flaming cleaver blade as he increased his running speed.

The Deathstalker howled in frustration as it tried turning to keep up with its prey. What was it Mom once told me, thought Aegis as he moved in closer to one of the Grimm's six legs, even the best armor has its weak spots, in this case the joints.

With a final burst of speed, Aegis ran in and managed to cut through one of the Deathstalker's legs at the joint. The Grimm screeched in agony as it tried turning and swinging its left claw at Aegis, who reacted by jumping up and using the claw as a platform to jump towards its glowing tail. The surprised Grimm didn't have time to properly aim its tail as it tried striking Aegis, giving him a perfect target as he slashed the stinger off at its joint, causing it to be flung away by the Deathstalker's thrashing tail.

Now for the tricky yet brutal part, thought Aegis as he leapt off the Grimm's back and landed beside its detached stinger, replacing his weapon on his back as he did so. Grabbing the stinger, Aegis grunted with effort as he hefted the stinger onto his shoulder and charged at the enraged Deathstalker.

Reacting surprisingly quickly, the large Grimm struck with both its claws, catching its stinger in one claw as it tried swiping at Aegis with its other claw, only to wind up snapping its own stinger in half as Aegis slid underneath and planted his weapon against the giant scorpion's soft underbelly as he spun his cylinder to energy dust and fired.

A large hole was blown in the Deathstalker's underbelly, eliciting a loud shriek from the dying Grimm as Aegis spun his cylinder to fire dust and unloaded another blast into the already large hole. He fired again and again until he busted through the top of the Deathstalker, yelling in triumph as the slain monster collapsed to the ground and began dissolving into black mist.

"Whew," said Aegis as he wiped some of the dissolving Grimm blood off of his face, "You got a real nice home town here, Blake, real nice, five minutes and I've already been attacked by the local wildlife." Aegis took another minute to wipe some of the blood off his face before he continued his walk into the town. Hopefully the locals are a little more friendly, he thought as he stepped into the limits of Kuo Kuana.

Atlas: Schnee Manor

"Sorry," said Wayne as he kneed a guard in the face, knocking him unconscious as he fell onto a small table, knocking an expensive looking vase off which Wayne just managed to catch before it hit the floor. Close one, thought Wayne, I've already made seven apologies in the last few minutes. As he was thinking this, another guard came running up with his pistol drawn. "Don't move," said the guard as he pointed the gun at him. Eight apologies, thought Wayne as he tossed the vase at him.

Taken completely by surprise, the guard clumsily caught the vase, nearly dropping his pistol in the process as Wayne swung his sleeve wire out and pulled as it wrapped around the guard's ankle. The guard yelled as he fell to the floor, tossing the vase up as he did so.

Moving quicker than he thought possible, Wayne managed to snatch the vase out of the air with both hands as he spun and kicked the downed guard in the face, knocking him out. "Sorry," said Wayne as he put the vase back on the table and stepped over the downed guard, "Really trying not to make a mess here."

Turning another corner and making his way down a flight of very large, ornate, white and blue stairs, Wayne entered a room with multiple passageways and an almost life-sized figure of a King Taijitu when four more guards, two from one entrance and two from another blocked his path.

"We have orders to use non-lethal force on all intruders," said one of the guards on Wayne's right as they advanced on him with extendable swords drawn, "Unless we deem it insufficient, and I'd really like to avoid getting an earful for getting blood on Mr. Schnee's floor."

"Sure thing," said Wayne as he held his hands up out of habit, "Just point me in the direction of Weiss's room so I can talk to her and we can all avoid any further collateral damage to the floors, or walls, and possibly the ceilings too." "Can you believe this guy," said one of the soldiers on Wayne's left. "Or we can keep redecorating the hallways," said Wayne, "Your choice."

"Oh let's just beat 'em and throw 'em out already," said the other soldier on Wayne's left as he came at him with a horizontal swing of his sword. I tried Weiss, thought Wayne as he quickly pulled his wire out of his right sleeve and used it to block the strike before quickly elbowing the guard in the face, knocking him back as he turned and kicked another charging guard in the stomach, sending him stumbling into the guard behind him.

The fourth guard attempted to run him through, but Wayne maneuvered around the guard and looped his wire around the guard's throat as he spun and bent downward, pulling the guard off his feet and throwing him over his shoulder, and right into the King Taijitu statue.

Really hope that statue is sturdy, thought Wayne as he dodged a swing from the last charging guard and swung his wire like a whip, causing his opponent to yelp as it struck him in the face, then swung again as he wrapped the wire around the guard's ankle and yanked him onto the floor.

One of the other guards who'd managed to recover charged again, but Wayne ducked and kicked his leg out from under him before punching him in the face, knocking him back down as he quickly turned and kicked one of the other downed guards in the face, insuring he was unconscious.

This would be so much easier if these guys were Grimm, thought Wayne as he picked up one of the swords, heck I'd almost take more White Fang soldiers right about now. The soldier on the statue grunted as Wayne tossed the sword in his direction. "Doh," said the soldier before falling back down onto the statue.

Wayne was about to leave the room when a thought occurred to him. Heck I've got a little time, he thought, and Aegis would definitely do this if he were here right now. With that thought in mind, Wayne dragged the soldiers, one at a time, over to the large statue. Now that is an example of nontraditional art, thought Wayne as he took a picture with his scroll.

He'd hung two of the soldiers by their harnesses from the mouths of the King Taijitu statue and draped the other two on random spots along the statue's body. All in all, it made for something of a comical scene. Aegis is gonna love this, thought Wayne as he returned his scroll to his pocket.

As he did so, he finally caught the scent of the person he'd come looking for. Wow, gone back to wearing an obscene amount of makeup and perfume again I see, thought Wayne as he started off towards the direction of Weiss's scent, but it is a fresh, so at least I know you're here for sure now. I just hope Aegis and the others are doing well.

Mistral: Along the Forest Roads

This bike handles well, Drake thought as he came to a stop on top of a hill. May stopped right next to him as they both looked out towards the mountain range. "We're almost there," said May as she took out her binoculars and peered through them, "Just a little while longer." "We'll still need to stop for the night," said Drake as May handed him the binoculars, "It's gonna be dark in a few hours and riding the bikes around at night has a way of attracting Grimm."

"Yeah but it beats walking," said May as she repositioned herself on Aegis's bike, "I just hope they give us a warm welcome when we arrive." "Well let's just worry about getting there first," said Drake as he looked through the binoculars before handing them back to May, "One problem at a time and all that." "You got that from Wayne," Said May as she stashed her binoculars and readied her bike.

"We owe him and his brother a great deal," said Drake with a slight smirk, "Getting to Haven safely is the least we can do for them." "Yeah and not wrecking their bikes while we're at it," said May as she gunned the engine on her bike, "Doesn't mean we can't race to the next big hill though!" With that, May zoomed off as Drake simply shook his head before revving Wayne's bike and speeding off after her. We'll make it to Haven, thought Drake, we have to.

 **Three paths in three different lands, with three different goals, where will they meet again? Hello again everyone, I'd like to take this time to give a big thank you and a shout out to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers as our little story here reaches over 9,000 views. So thank you everyone whose taken the time to read, comment on, and/or review this story, it helps keep me motivated and I'm always open to new ways to improve my writing and storytelling. And be sure to stop in next chapter as Aegis continues his search for Blake, and Wayne learns of the Schnee family drama.**


	53. Wayne Guardsman & Aegis Demon Bear

**Wayne the Guardsman & Aegis the Demon Bear**

Menagerie: Kuo Kuana

It was midafternoon as a lone girl made her way through the crowded streets. I have to know, the girl thought, is she really back. The girl was a chameleon Faunus whose hair was tied back in a way which greatly resembled the tail of said reptile.

As for her outfit, she wore bluish-purple overalls with short pant legs that stopped above her knees and a pair of boots, with a glove on her right hand. But the most distinct feature about her was the horned White Fang mask she wore, which had four slits for her eyes and covered her nose and forehead.

Ordinarily, this mask would cause a great amount of unease anywhere else in the world, but this was Menagerie, the birth place of the White Fang, and her home. Her name was Ilia Amitola, and today, she had a personal mission she wanted to accomplish, not for the White Fang, but for herself. At least that's what she had planned to do until something else drew her attention.

What in the world, thought Ilia, is that a person? Whatever, or whoever it was, it was dripping with the dissolving blood of a Grimm and reeked of the scent of death as the crowd seemed to move out of the way of its approach. You can't be here, she thought as she got a better look at who it was, you were in Mistral just yesterday, my brothers in the White Fang saw you, how can you be here, and why?

It took another few moments for Ilia to get over her shock before it occurred to her to hide by a nearby stand as she tried to organize her thoughts. Okay, you're here, as oddly insane as it is you're here, and now I need to figure out why, why are you here Aegis Ursario? Sorry Blake, thought Ilia, we'll have to catch up a little later, right now I need to investigate how and why this guy got here.

I hope I'm not drawing too much attention to myself, thought Aegis as he walked into the town, still covered in dissolving Grimm blood. Unsurprisingly, many people were giving him lopsided looks or covering their noses as Aegis walked by. Gosh this ain't that weird is it, he thought to himself, admittedly I'm covered in way more blood than the time I blew up that boarbatusk in Port's classroom and showered everyone with Grimm entrails, but still, it's like people have never seen a guy covered in Deathstalker blood walking around town before.

Even despite the reception he was getting, Aegis still couldn't help but marvel at the exotic town and the massive variety of Faunus that inhabited it. This place almost reminds me of home, thought Aegis as he walked uphill to get a better view of the town, a nice homey place filled with people of all kinds from all different walks of life, a lot more crowded though. Aegis took another moment to look out over the town before he set his mind back to why he was there.

I should probably start asking around, thought Aegis, I don't exactly have a map of this place and Blake's home could be on the other side of town for all I know. Aegis took a quick look around the area before he decided to stop at a food stall which was run by a lady with some kind of cow horns, whose back was currently turned as she was organizing some crates. "Hey you, uh got a minute," asked Aegis, "I'm a bit new in town and I need some directions."

"Certainly," said the woman as she turned around, "How can I AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!" He's covered in blood, thought the woman, why is he covered in blood, "Demon bear!" exclaimed the trembling woman as she started frantically searching for something under the stall.

"Demon bear," said Aegis as he drew his weapon and looked around, "Where?" "Be cleansed and leave us in peace," said the cow-horned woman as she pulled out a jug of water and splashed it on him. Aegis stood there for a moment, dripping wet with a slightly annoyed expression as the rest of the Grimm blood dissolved off of him.

"I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding," said Aegis as he stood and spit some water out of his mouth. "Oh wait, you're just a Faunus, a funny smelling one yes but still a Faunus," said the now embarrassed woman.

"Half-Faunus actually," said Aegis as he shook some of the water off of his armor, "But that's beside point, what I want to know is WHY everyone is freaking out, oh and do you know where I can find the Belladona residence?"

"Well we usually don't get armored figures covered in blood around here," said the woman sheepishly, "You kind of looked like some monster from folklore, so I splashed you with some cleansing water."

"Well fortunately for you I was needing a bath anyway," said Aegis as he straightened out his hair a little, "But if you still feel like apologizing, just answer my second question." "Oh right, you want to know where the chief's home is," said the woman as she pointed to the bottom of the hill, "You'll find the Belladona residence right down there." Aegis looked where she was pointing, and felt his jaw drop.

"Well that place is, uh, fancy," said Aegis as he looked at the large, Eastern-style mansion sitting at the bottom of the hill. "Humble though he may be," said the woman, "He is still the chief, but may I ask, what business do you have with him?" "Oh nothing much just-," Aegis paused for a short moment as he noticed a reflection in one of the windows, "Just needed to talk to him about a few things."

"Well I wish you luck," said the woman, "Again, sorry about the whole 'cleansing water' thing, oh and welcome to Menagerie." "Well like I said," replied Aegis as he turned to leave, discreetly scanning the area as he did, "I needed a bath anyway."

Aegis walked a few feet before turning a corner into a slightly less crowded area, making it look like he was adjusting some of his armor as he checked behind him. Come on out White Fang girl, thought Aegis, I know you're there, so let's see what ya got.

Atlas: The Schnee Mansion

Finally getting close, thought Wayne as he approached what he hoped was Weiss's room. If not for my sense of smell I could've easily gotten lost in this place, I mean seriously, you'd need a map or a tour guide just to find a bathroom around here. "Leave," said a familiar female voice coming from the room Wayne was approaching. Oh come on, thought Wayne as he noticed the door to the room was standing wide open, I just got here.

"So hurtful," said an unfamiliar voice, this one sounding like a young boy, "And here I was about to grant you a favor." Oh, thought Wayne as he continued to listen while he walked forward, she's not talking to me after all. The boy mentioned something about meeting his father's business partner's as Wayne got close to the door, but what really caught Wayne's attention was his next sentence.

"I thought I'd see if you wanted me to pick anything up for you since you're, well, stuck here," said the boy as Wayne approached the edge of the door. Stuck here, thought Wayne, what's he talking about? "Are you jealous," Weiss asked the boy.

"Whatever do you mean?" questioned the boy. "Is that why you hate me and Winter, are you jealous of our abilities?" Inquired Weiss. The boy seemed to ponder for a moment before answering. "Not really," said the boy, "To be honest I find it quite barbaric, it's beneath people like me and father, I mean honestly, what could a single huntsman do that an army could not?"

"Well for starters," said Wayne as he stepped into the room and set his hand on the white-haired boy's right shoulder, "I doubt an army could've snuck in here nearly undetected, Huntsmen are a bit better suited for that kind of job."

The boy shrieked, in a surprisingly feminine manner Wayne noted, as he staggered backward and fell onto floor. "W-who are you?" questioned the white-haired boy, who Wayne noted was also wearing a business casual suit with a white shirt, black pants and a blue vest. And for whatever reason, a neck-tie. "Are you with the White Fang," questioned the now frightened boy.

"Relax bellhop," said Wayne as he pointed his thumb towards Weiss, "I'm one of Weiss's friends, who by the way you should not be bad-mouthing, because if I recall my history correctly, the founder of your fantastic little company, Nicholas Schnee I think he was called, not only went to combat school, but personally led expeditions into and worked in those dust mines you guys own, so I guess it's lucky for you that none of that was beneath him, so next time you go shooting off your mouth-."

"Guardsman," said Weiss suddenly, drawing Wayne's attention, "I think that will do for now." "Just thought he needed a little reminder 'bout where he comes from," replied Wayne, wondering why Weiss had called him guardsman as he went to help the boy up, "What was your name again bellhop?"

"My name is Whitley Schnee!" exclaimed the white-haired boy, knocking Wayne's hand away as he angrily picked himself up off the floor, "And since you are clearly ill-informed I'll have you know that I am the current heir of the Schnee Dust Company, so you'd best show some proper respect and tell me who you are and why exactly you are here, Mr.-!"

"Guardsman," said Weiss, interrupting Whitley, "You can just call him guardsman for now, and he's earlier than expected actually." Weiss pulled out her scroll and checked it before she continued speaking, "I hadn't planned on you being here for at least another half an hour, and you even managed to get past the guards without causing a full scale alarm, not bad."

"Uh, yeah sure," said Wayne, deciding to play along with Weiss, "Just using what I was taught." "Guardsman?" questioned Whitley, looking both annoyed and inquisitive at the same time, "What do you mean guardsman?"

"It was supposed to be a proposal for father," explained Weiss, "Since he dreads the idea of me going out alone these days, I thought, why not hire a personal bodyguard who could keep an eye on me at all times while I'm out of the mansion, that way I could leave and father could rest easy knowing I had someone looking out for me."

"A bodyguard," repeated Whitley with a raised eyebrow, "Surely you could've gone with someone who at least looks like a professional, this one is wearing a coat with stitches in it, and is that really a mask hanging from your hip?" "Sorry," said Wayne, "I prefer outfits that don't restrict my movement and cut off my breathing because the neck is too tight."

"He came here from Mistral," said Weiss, "They have a great appreciation for art and theater, so of course he'd be dressed a bit differently, but what's important is that he has the qualities of not only being a descendant of a warrior clan but also the qualities of a good body guard: skill, experience, determination, loyalty, a willingness to see a job through to the end no matter what, and most importantly him and his family were highly recommended by Winter the last time we spoke."

"Yes and Winter trusts a fool like Ironwood," said Whitley as he stepped through the doorway, "But I suppose it can't be helped, I doubt father will go for this anyway, so enjoy your short stay Mr. Guardsman, you'll probably be out of here by tomorrow at the latest, and good luck with your training sister, as pointless as it is."

A black glyph appeared on the door as it slammed shut, locking Whitley out of the room. After waiting until they were sure Whitley was out of earshot, both Wayne and Weiss sighed in relief. "Well that was something," said Wayne as he turned to Weiss, "So how ya been Snowfla-?" Wayne was interrupted as Weiss threw her arms around his neck and buried her head into his shoulder.

Okay, this is weird, thought Wayne as he stood temporarily frozen trying to process what was happening. Weiss Schnee, the prim and proper girl who'd always lectured him and Aegis about etiquette, was hugging him, and were those tears of joy?

"I can't believe you're here," said Weiss, her voice cracking a little, "I've missed you, I've missed everyone so much." "Well it's just me right now, hope that's not too disappointing," said Wayne as he lightly hugged Weiss back.

Weiss moved back a little as she looked him in the eye and happily shook her head. "It's not disappointing at all," said Weiss as she smiled, "How have you been Wayne, and oh gosh where have you been?" "Oh that," said Wayne as he tried not to laugh at how Weiss was wrinkling her nose, "I was uh, kind of in a warzone yesterday." "A WARZONE!" exclaimed Weiss.

"Just a little one," said Wayne as he rubbed his ear, "Like abandoned town size." "And tell me, were the rest of our friends involved?" asked Weiss as she let go of Wayne and crossed her arms. "No, just me and Aegis, a Vacuoan sniper and an ex-White Fang guy," replied Wayne. "And how did you even manage to find yourselves in a warzone?" questioned Weiss as she shifted back to her usual demeanor.

"Well the White Fang may have been a bit upset by some of me and Aegis's meddling in Mistral," said Wayne as he tried to think of a quick way to explain it, "And they may have sent in a strike force of White Fang soldiers to try and kill us."

"You brought down a force of White Fang soldiers on yourselves," said Weiss as she put her hand to her head, trying to comprehend the situation, "That's just, you know what first things first." Weiss pointed to a door which looked like it belonged to a bathroom.

"Shower," said Weiss. "Now surely I don't smell that bad do I?" asked Wayne, feigning innocence. "Look I am beyond happy to see you again Wayne," said Weiss, "But if we're gonna have a conversation of any kind, pleasant, serious, or otherwise I cannot be wrinkling my nose every minute, so shower, now." Wayne wanted to protest, seeing as what he needed to tell her was kind of important, but he knew Weiss well enough to know that there was no arguing with her when she got like this.

"Alright, we shall convene again after I wash myself in the royal baths," said Wayne, imitating a stereotypical royal's voice as he bowed and headed towards the shower. "Just don't get the shower too filthy," replied Weiss. "No promises," said Wayne as he opened the bathroom door, "Oh and Weiss." Wayne paused for a moment as he thought about what to say. "I really missed you too," he finally said with a sincere smile.

 **And at last, Wayne has reunited with a member of team RWBY, while Aegis trails close behind as he is followed by a girl from Blake's past. How will he deal with one of Blake's old friends?**

 **Now onto other business, I'd like to make a bit of an apology for getting this out a bit late, had something of an interesting week. But I should be able to get back on track fairly soon. So for those of you still keeping up, I'd like to say thank you to my reviewers, followers and viewers for your patience and for continuing to keep me motivated on this story.**

 **Come back next time as Aegis must find a creative way to deal with his pursuer, while Wayne and Weiss hatch a plan of escape from the Schnee mansion. 'Til next time.**


	54. A Slight Change of Plans

**Just a Slight Change of Plans**

Kuo Kuana Streets

Come on, thought Aegis as he continued wandering the town, you've been following me for at least the last hour, what's the deal? It had been difficult keeping track of the girl tailing him, especially when Aegis figured out she could change colors to blend into her surroundings. Should've figured the White Fang would be in Menagerie, thought Aegis, but there's no way they could've known I'd be here. So the only possible explanations I can think of are either they have spies all over here or this one just so happened to spot me on the way into town, which I guess isn't so surprising considering how conspicuous I was arriving.

Aegis continued discreetly checking over his shoulder, noting that the girl was still behind him and maintaining a certain distance to avoid being completely seen. Good news is, thought Aegis, she doesn't seem to have caught onto the fact that I noticed her. Aegis shifted around a group of three Faunus as he continued to move through the crowd. Bad news is, there are way too many people here for me to start a fight using my weapon, heck I'd have a hard time just using my fists right now without hitting someone else on accident, so what to do?

Aegis continued glancing around the market place as he tried to find a less crowded area to move to. She'll keep the same distance so long as I stay on the main streets, thought Aegis, but if I managed to slip out of sight around a corner. Aegis checked a nearby window to make sure he was still being followed as he approached what looked like a small alleyway. Let's see what we can do with this, he thought.

Just as he was passing by the alleyway, Aegis jumped sideways and began running before he leaped up and kicked off one wall, then the other as he climbed up onto the roof of one of the small buildings. As he looked back, he caught sight of the chameleon girl running into the alley in too much of a hurry for her to glance up as she stopped at the other end, looking around frantically as she tried to figure out what just happened. Watching all those spy movies finally paid off, thought Aegis as he dropped down behind his confused pursuer, speaking of which.

The chameleon girl turned around just as Aegis tackled her and pinned her to the wall with his elbow. "Who do you work for?" Exclaimed Aegis. "What seriously, you're actually asking that question?" grunted the chameleon girl. "No, I've just always wanted to say that," Replied Aegis in a far less hostile tone, "But seriously, who are you and why the heck are you following me?"

"My name is Ilia if you must know, and you're the suspicious one, showing up in town from out of nowhere covered in blood," answered the chameleon girl, "Everyone else is curious too you know, I'm just one of the ones who was interested enough to try and find out." "Yeah sure," said Aegis, "And you just happen to be wearing a White Fang mask, who I've had some less than pleasant encounters with recently."

"That's not my fault," said the girl innocently, "There's a splinter group in the Vale faction of the Fang, a very violent splinter group who doesn't follow the rest of the Fang's ideals, those of us in Menagerie and the rest of Remnant are believers in the path to peace!"

"That is a compelling argument," said Aegis thoughtfully as he increased the pressure of his elbow against her, "Except for one problem, I never mentioned that I encountered the White Fang in Vale."

Oh crap, thought Ilia as she avoided Aegis's gaze, he's not as thick-headed as I thought, I guess that means plan B. "Alright, the truth then," said Ilia as she discreetly reached behind her, "I know who you are, and I might even know why you're here, but I'm telling you now it's all pointless."

"Why's that," asked Aegis, "Is it 'cause I'm up against forces I can't possibly comprehend or something like that?" "That, and the fact that your journey is ending," said Ilia as she withdrew her weapon and pointed at Aegis's chest where he couldn't see it easily, "Very soon."

Aegis, realizing what was happening quickly moved to the side as he was forced to release his grip on his prisoner to avoid the electrified end of an extendable metal whip. Okay, she's not just an average spy, thought Aegis as he avoided another couple of swings from his enemy's whip before charging right at her, forming glass gauntlets as he did so. Ilia spun around and swung her whip directly at Aegis's head.

The whip flashed yellow as it struck against Aegis's left gauntlet, shattering it completely as Aegis barreled into Ilia, knocking her off her feet. Ouch, thought Aegis, even with glass armor that still stings A LOT. As he thought this, Ilia managed to roll back up to a half-kneeling position as she swung her whip horizontally, aiming for his torso.

Aegis managed to block the whip with his right gauntlet, doing his best to ignore the burning sting from the shattering gauntlet as he hit his opponent in the stomach with a left upper cut which caused her to cough in pain as she was sent another few feet away.

"This can go one of two ways," said Aegis, "You can just tell me what you're really doing here or I can beat it out of ya, and just so you know I'm always up for a good fight." A look of anger and annoyance crossed Ilia's face as she stood back up and swung her whip across the ground, kicking up a dust cloud which temporarily blinded Aegis as she turned and ran. "Oh no you don't," said Aegis as he ran out of the alley after her and into the town streets.

Atlas: Weiss's Room in Schnee Manor

"That has to be the most complicated shower I have ever used," said Wayne as he stepped out of the bathroom, currently wearing a spare shirt and black pants he'd brought along with him, "I was afraid I was gonna need a manual to figure out all the buttons." Weiss had had some of the staff come by to take his combat outfit to be washed because, according to her, they were 'riddled with dirt, grime, and smelled absolutely terrible.'

"I've never had a problem with it," said Weiss as she sat on her bed, Myternaster resting right next to her. "Well the shower I grew up with had one knob for hot and cold," said Wayne as he sat down in a nearby chair, "Your shower has buttons for temperature, spray pattern, pressure and there's even a suds option for # # 's sake, and speaking of problems, did a bunch of guards stop by here earlier?"

"Not hardly two minutes after you went in to shower," said Weiss, "They told me some dangerous guy in a ratty coat was loose in the mansion, it took me at least five minutes just to apologize to them for you beating them up, but at the very least I've managed to convince them that you aren't here to cause trouble, which reminds me, you haven't told me how or why you're here yet."

"Ah yes, where to begin, well the gist of it is I got in here with some help from a huntress who can create portals with a really big sword, popped up in a bathroom of all places," said Wayne as he leaned back in the chair, "And the reason why I'm here is because Haven Academy is in really, really big trouble and we kind of need your help to find your sister Winter and give her some data on the White Fang." "Where did you get data on the White Fang," questioned Weiss.

"Well it's kind of a long story, and gosh this is a comfortable chair," said Wayne as he pulled out his scroll, "You remember that panther Faunus guy from the Vytal festival, Drake Beller, well he gave it to me and Aegis." "Wait Drake Beller," said Weiss with a note of surprise in her voice, "The guy who tried to kill you twice and gave you those scars on your left arm, gave you that data?"

"I know it sounds really, oddly, incredibly weird," said Wayne as he pulled up the files on his scroll, "But apparently me beating him a second time made him rethink his life a bit, when we met him he'd left the White Fang, and he even has a 'human' girlfriend now." Weiss tilted her head in confusion for a moment before responding.

"So wait, you're telling me that the guy who spent a good deal of his life hating humans and tried to kill you, in the span of a few months managed to change his ways so much so that he actually welcomes having a human companion?" Said Weiss, disbelief somewhat evident in her voice.

"Well I mean look at you," said Wayne, "I'm sure not so long ago if I'd walked in here unannounced you'd probably threaten to have security throw me out before listening to what I had to say, or at least given me an earful."

"I'm not sure I would've gone that far," said Weiss, "But you definitely wouldn't have gotten a hug, so I suppose I see your point." "And take a look at this," said Wayne as he tossed the scroll to Weiss, who caught it in her hands, "If even half of that data is true, we can't afford to ignore it."

Weiss was silent for several moments as she read through some of the data, a look of concern crossing her face. "You're right," Agreed Weiss as she tossed the scroll back to Wayne, "We need to get to Mistral as soon as possible."

"Any chance we can't just contact Winter from here?" Asked Wayne. "I'm afraid not," said Weiss, hanging her head a little, "Father won't let me contact anyone unless he approves of it first, and he's not on the best of terms with my sister right now, especially with Ironwood blocking dust exportation out of Atlas."

"Geez," said Wayne, "What's the guy got against you talking to people, I mean I know me and everyone else at Beacon might not have made the best impression when he showed up, but this seems a little extreme?"

"It wasn't because of you," said Weiss, a note of sadness entering her voice, "I had a bit of an outburst at a fundraiser for Vale, one of my summons got out of control, and now father has forbidden me from leaving the mansion, cut off my communication from the outside world, and-," Weiss took a deep breath before she continued, "He's revoked my claim to the Schnee Dust Company, I am no longer the heiress to the family business."

Wayne felt his hand tighten on the arm of the chair as he listened to the news, "So that little dipstick brother of yours really is the heir now?" "Yes," replied Weiss sadly. Wayne remained silent for a moment as he fought down the anger within him, "Anything I can do to help?" he finally asked.

"It's a problem for another time," said Weiss as she sat up straighter, "Right now we have a much bigger problem, and I won't sit by and let Haven become just like Beacon." Wayne nodded his head as his grip loosened on the chair, an imprint of his hand still remaining, "Alright then, first things first, we need to get out of here."

"I've already got a plan for that," said Weiss with a slight smirk, "Though we're gonna need something to keep the staff a little busier now that you're here." "I think I may have a solution for that," said Wayne as he withdrew the marker and spray paint that Aegis had given him from his coat, "I think some of the artwork around here could use a little sprucing up, and tell me, how big of a summon can you create?"

Instead of answering, Weiss picked up Myternaster as she slid off her bed. Twirling gracefully, she jabbed her weapon into the floor. In another moment, a large, glowing, white glyph appeared. As Wayne watched, a glowing blue form rose from the center of the glyph, causing the room to shake a bit as some of the books fell off of the nearby shelf. As the figure took shape, the glyph was released, forcing Wayne to protect his face with his arm as the force released shattered the large window in Weiss's room overlooking the mansion grounds.

As Wayne lowered his arm, he saw a large, blue glowing knight with an enormous great sword standing before him and Weiss. "Okay, I think we can work with that," said Wayne as the door to Weiss's room was suddenly flung open. "Miss Schnee are you alright," questioned a worried, balding butler with short brown hair, freckles and a mustache, wearing a fancy blue vest.

"Yes," said Weiss with a slight smirk as the glowing blue knight bowed to her, "Klein this is Wayne Ursario, one of my friends from Beacon, he's here to help, but for him to do that I'm going to need a favor." Klein looked at Wayne for a second before nodding his head in affirmation.

Kuo Kuana: Some Time Later

Will this guy not quit, thought Ilia as she moved through the crowd, he's been chasing me for what feels like hours. She checked over her shoulder again, noting that her bear-eared pursuer was, again, behind her. She'd managed to lose him a couple times by slipping through the crowd, but she'd underestimated his tracking skills, and his tenacity. Now she was gonna have to get creative if she wanted to lose him.

This is really starting to get old, thought Aegis as he moved closer to his prey, I've wasted a good bit of time chasing this girl, but if I can't catch her now we could have the White Fang breathing down our necks by tomorrow. With this in mind, he approached carefully, trying to hide behind some of the larger civilians. He'd managed to get within a few feet of Ilia when the girl suddenly swung her weapon out at several bags of stacked flour, creating a smokescreen of white powder.

Aegis coughed as his vision was obscured for a moment before he started pushing through the crowd at a more hurried pace. I guess she noticed me after all, thought Aegis as he wiped the flour from his eyes before noticing that a good bit of his armor was now white. What is it with today and me getting covered in random # # !

Several surprised gasps came from the crowd as Aegis increased his pace, closing the distance between him and Ilia as the path sloped uphill. As he approached the top, Ilia ran alongside a cart filled with assorted fruits and vegetables pulled by some kind of mule. Or at least it was until Ilia used her whip to cut through yoke, releasing the mule as the cart began rolling downhill, quickly picking up speed.

Oh you have got to be kidding me, thought Aegis as he noticed a small, lizard Faunus boy had fallen trying to move out of the cart's path. Moving quickly, Aegis braced himself as the cart slammed into his outstretched hands, its momentum causing it to lift off the ground as Aegis balanced it with his arms. "You alright down there," Asked Aegis as he managed to turn his head to look at the lizard boy.

The young Faunus nodded as Aegis moved the cart off the road and set it down as gently as he could, doing his best to insure that it couldn't roll down the hill any further. "Thank you," said one of the owners of the cart. "If you were chasing that girl, she went down that alleyway," said the other owner as he held onto the mule they'd almost lost.

"Thanks for the tip," said Aegis as he started in the direction the owner indicated, "Good luck with the cart." "We'll take care of it, just catch that wench," said the other owner. Not like I needed any more reasons to go after her, thought Aegis as he headed into the alley, following what he hoped was her scent.

After another minute of tracking, Aegis turned a corner and stopped, more than a little surprised at the site that greeted him. There was Ilia, being held down by two Fox Faunus, one with ears and the other with a tail, wearing identical black and white robes with red hoods.

"Good evening young one," said the Fox-eared one as he pulled Ilia up to her feet, holding her arms behind her back, "It's a bit late in the day to be causing trouble, wouldn't you agree Corsac." "I think it's merely a simple misunderstanding Fennec," answered the one with the fox tail, "But I think it best we hear his side first, Mr.-," "Aegis," he answered cautiously, "Aegis Ursario."

"Well Mr. Ursario," said Fennec, "What seems to be the problem here?" Aegis thought for a moment, wondering how much he should tell them. "The White Fang girl here was spying on me," Aegis finally said, "I'm fairly certain she wanted to off my $$." "Dear me, whatever for?" questioned Corsac.

"I've just had a couple run-ins with the White Fang's more violent members," said Aegis, "I thought it'd be bad if some of them heard I was here."

"Well there's no need to worry about that now," said Fennec, "We can escort her to the nearest station, then Menagerie's local law enforcement can take it from there, after all, she did endanger some civilians today in her attempt to escape." "An act which does not go unpunished here," added Corsac.

Ordinarily I'd be suspicious of two random strangers conveniently showing up to deal with a problem, thought Aegis, heck I'm still fairly suspicious as it is, but I've wasted enough time already. "Alright you two do what you gotta do," said Aegis as he turned to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want to accompany us," said Fennec. "I imagine the authorities would want to hear your side of the story," Corsac added. "I'd love to," said Aegis, "But I got some place I need to be as soon as possible, so thanks for the help and all that, and have a good day."

With that last statement, Aegis walked out of the alley and back into the street. Really don't like this, thought Aegis, but right now getting to Blake is more important than dealing with some random spy. As he mulled this over in his head, he noticed another problem which hadn't occurred to him until now. Great, I'm completely lost, Aegis realized, now which way do I go?

"You really should be more careful," said Fennec as he released Ilia, "Ms. Belladona has made some skilled and dangerous friends during her time at Beacon." "And they are not to be underestimated," said Corsac, "Tell me, what would you have done if we hadn't shown up?"

"I would've thought of something," said Ilia, "I just didn't expect a seeming brute like him to spot me so darn quickly." "Then you'd best start thinking about what you want to do now," said Corsac, "If your current goal is still the same, then you will very likely encounter the Ursario boy again."

"I know that," said Ilia, "But I have to check on Blake, and I have to get that scroll from that monkey friend of hers." "Then you'd best be extra careful now," said Fennec, "I would recommend going in a little later when the sun has set." "And should something happen, you'd best have an escape route planned," added Corsac.

"I got it," said Ilia as she checked her weapon before slipping it back on her belt, "But if all goes well, Blake won't even know I was there." "Then we wish you luck on your mission," said Fennec as he and Corsac bowed, before turning and leaving. Luck, right, thought Ilia, if I were truly lucky, Blake wouldn't have come back at all.

 **Who will reach Blake first, Aegis or Ilia, and what does Weiss have in mind for escape? And for those of you wondering, since the official time line of volume four wasn't all that well established, I decided to do some tinkering of my own, hope it's not too confusing. And as always, a big thank you to my reviewers, followers and viewers, whose input and support have kept me going up to this point. So be sure to drop by next time as Wayne demonstrates some of his artistic skills, and Aegis's exploration of Kuo Kuana brings him to a couple of interesting places. 'Til next time.**


	55. To Be There for a Friend

**To Be There for a Friend**

Atlas: Schnee Mansion Main Hall

The sun had gotten much lower with the passing of a few hours, and normally at this time things would be winding down slightly at the Schnee mansion. But this evening was different, as much of the staff had been called from their usual duties to the main hall. What was even stranger was that they had been asked to ignore any oddities on the way there as the meeting was of the utmost importance. Many of the staff stood whispering amongst themselves until Weiss Schnee walked out and stood at the top of the stairs, causing all murmuring to cease.

"As many of you are likely aware by now, several strange occurrences have been reported around the mansion," Said Weiss in an informative and fairly authoritative voice, "But there is no cause for alarm, as the perpetrator of these disturbances is right here." Weiss waved her hand, signaling for Wayne to come forward.

"This is our first candidate for the position of my personal body guard," Said Weiss, "For those of you who doubt his abilities, know that he easily snuck into this mansion, out fought a dozen guards using only wires and his bare hands, and has continually managed to keep from raising a full scale alarm while he was here, so I suggest you pay attention to what he has to say." Weiss stepped back and let Wayne have the floor, as he cleared his throat to speak.

"Alright listen up everyone," said Wayne as he paced back and forth across the stairs with his hands behind his back, looking out at the guards, maids, and butlers who'd assembled thanks to Klein, "None of you know me and until stated otherwise there's no point for any of you to come to know me, so for now just call me Guardsman, and I am here on behalf of the young Miss Schnee to improve the security of this mansion and, should it be approved, serve as a personal bodyguard to the young mistress."

Wayne paused to take a breath before continuing. "Now for those of you who don't know, Mr. Schnee, not being present at the moment, has not yet approved of my being here, however, until such a time as I am personally dismissed by him, your instructions as laid down by Miss Schnee are to act as though I already hold the position, any questions?"

"Uh yeah," said one of the guards, "How exactly will you be improving security around here?" "Drills for starters," replied Wayne, "lots and lots of drills, drills for break-ins, drills for apprehension, drills which won't seem to make any sense at all until later on."

"Anything besides drills," asked another one of the soldiers. "And what exactly will we be doing," asked one of the maids.

"Detail duty," answered Wayne as he stopped pacing, "Everyone here, maids, butlers, and soldiers alike need to be on the lookout for details, like previously looked doors suddenly being unlocked, scuff marks on the floors or walls, strange and unfamiliar sounds in the hallways, and even alterations to what should be immovable and unmarked art work."

"How is that supposed to help," asked the impatient guard captain. "How," Wayne questioned back as he started down the stairs a little ways, "Let me ask you something, how long did it take you and the rest of your men to notice that a dozen of you had been taken out, when I wasn't even trying to kill any of you, but I've seen fighters out there with abilities to create portals, morph their bodies, create illusions and even enter your very minds."

Wayne stopped at the bottom of the stairs next to a bust of Jacque Schnee. "But if you're able to notice certain things out of place, things that shouldn't be out of place, then you could possibly save the lives of the whole Schnee family, but let's start off simple." Wayne turned the bust around to reveal a black painted smiley face with its tongue sticking out. "If none of you noticed something like this I worry for the future of the Schnee family, now onto apprehension."

Almost as soon as Wayne said it, a white flash occurred as a glowing white and blue Beowulf went running by on the stairs up above, causing all the guards to pull out their weapons as the rest of the staff took cover where ever they could. "Well go after it!" exclaimed Wayne, "It'll only disappear once you catch it." Wayne's words seemed to help the guards overcome their surprise as they went running up the stairs.

"As for everyone else," said Wayne as he started back up the stairs, "Start looking for out of place details." The maids and butlers peered up after Wayne, looking at him as if he'd gone crazy for a moment before they slowly moved out of the room, not currently in the mood to argue with a glowing Beowulf on the loose.

As Wayne reached the top of the stairs, out of sight of the rest of the staff, he bent over and exhaled as he tried to stop his knees from shaking. "Whew, I really don't like public speaking," said Wayne.

"Not a half-bad speech," said Weiss, "I haven't seen the staff that attentive or lively in quite some time." "The real motivator was your summon," Said Wayne, "But I appreciate the compliment, you don't think they saw my knees shaking do you?"

"No," replied Weiss with a slight smile, "The shaking was only noticeable from back here, but don't worry, I won't tell." Wayne could only shake his head at that, but he smirked a little none the less.

"Though I am curious about one thing," said Weiss as she raised her hands to make air quotes, "How much 'decorating' did you?" "Oh just a bit here and there," said Wayne as he pulled out his scroll and opened one of the picture files, "Wanna see a few?"

Weiss looked unsure for a moment. On the one hand she never liked seeing the desecration of art, even if it was for a good cause, but on the other hand she wanted to see how much of her father's favorite art had been 'spruced' up. In the end, curiosity won out as Weiss accepted Wayne's scroll and began sifting through the photos while they walked back towards her room. "Oh no," said Weiss as she covered her mouth with one hand to stifle a laugh, "You are out of your mind you know that."

"I'm no artist," replied Wayne, "But I gave it my best shot." Weiss flipped through the pictures, still not quite believing what she was seeing. The first picture was one of their sculptures of a boarbatusk, only now it sported a funky monobrow, with glasses drawn around 'all' of the eyes, and an extra couple of lines to make it look like it was smiling. The next photo, was of one of the two suits of armor from the mansion's main hall, only now it had a thin, curly mustache drawn on the helmet, and some wording saying 'This space for rent.'

Flipping to the next picture, Weiss simply shook her head at the photo of a King Taijitu with two different mustaches on each face, eyebrows which made one look inquisitive and the other look angry, and the rest of the body was covered in smiley faces, each with a different emotional expression. Weiss flipped through a few more pictures, either laughing or shaking her head at the newly added details to her family's art collection.

There were vases with butt prints and drawings of # ##s on them, statues with different types of squiggly lines and faces, serious paintings which not only looked absolutely laughable thanks to a few added marks, like the painting of her grandfather which now looked like he was flipping the bird. "How often have you vandalized someone's property like this?" questioned Weiss.

"Oh, I learned most of these tricks by watching Aegis, though it's a great way to prank bullies and folks full of, ahem, hot air." Once more, Weiss could only shake her head as she scrolled to the last picture. The final one, though not the best still turned out to be the funniest to Weiss, it was her Father's favorite self-portrait, now with a few extra touch ups.

The large, ornate painting of her father now had black lines drawn around the eyes, a salt and pepper hair color, a tongue drawn on the mouth, black monster horns on his head and a word bubble that said 'The new face of the SDC' and to top it all off, on the suit was an inscription simply reading 'Aegis was here.'

"Aegis made me promise to deface at least one thing while I was here, kind of his way of saying 'screw you' to your dad and his little isolation policy," explained Wayne.

"Well it certainly explains why you brought a marker and spray paint with you," said Weiss, "You're sure none of the ink or paint is permanent?" "Aegis can be a troublemaker when he wants to be," replied Wayne, "But he's learned that it's a lot easier to clean up a mess when it wipes off easily."

"Well it'll at least keep the guards and staff busy, while slowly moving them from one side of the mansion to the other," said Weiss. "And if your father is following his schedule to the letter," said Wayne, "He'll have to get ready for his meeting with some extra important guest when he gets back, which hopefully means he'll have no time to deal with me and just tell Klein or someone to show me out."

"Which reminds me," said Weiss as she pulled out Myternaster and stabbed the weapon into the ground, conjuring another white glyph which produced a white, glowing griffon Grimm. "The next little specimen for the guards to chase," said Weiss, "Remember I can only conjure so many summons at once, and only for a short time, so make them count."

"Well in that case," said Wayne with a smirk as he hopped onto the Griffon, "May as well have some fun." Wayne kicked his heels into the Griffons hindquarters, causing it to rear up and screech before it went running down the hallway. "Gangway," yelled Wayne, "Griffon coming through!"

Weiss simply shook her head as a small smile played across her lips. Even if it was part of an escape plan, she hadn't had this much fun in months, making her realize once more how much she'd changed since she'd started at Beacon. She also realized something else, how much Wayne had done for her since they'd met, and how rarely she had actually thanked him. I'd better do something about that, thought Weiss, I at least owe him that much.

Menagerie: Kuo Kuana

Aegis sat thinking to himself as he finished up a good meal at a local café-type place. He knew he should be continuing the search for Blake and her family's house, especially considering the amount of time he lost chasing down that Ilia girl, but he also knew that him searching on an empty stomach wasn't so productive either. Especially considering the fact that, thanks to that little chameleon girl, he'd gotten lost, and missed lunch. And yes, there was no way he could resist a place which served honey as part of its menu.

Which brings up another issue, thought Aegis, I'd best get out of here before they run out of-. "Hey we're out of honey in the back," Aegis heard one of the chefs say, "How the heck is that even possible?"

Time to go, thought Aegis as he laid some lien down on the check and discreetly, well as discreetly as he could, slipped out of the restaurant. As he exited the restaurant, he noticed that night was falling as he stepped back out onto the street, trying once again to get his bearings.

Ordinarily his sense of direction was pretty good, but so many of the buildings around here looked the same, and the number of people walking around made it tricky for him to pick up a positive scent, especially considering several of them were also cat Faunus.

Guess there's only one thing to do, thought Aegis, so much for not drawing attention. Proceeding to a less crowded section, between two buildings, Aegis again climbed upwards and began hopping from roof top to roof top, his night vision allowing him a good view of the city, even despite the slowly disappearing light.

After several minutes, he arrived at a place he recognized from when he first entered the town. Crouching down, Aegis jumped upward to the top of a large pagoda-like structure which stood at the top of a very long, white stairway.

"There you are," Aegis thought aloud as he spotted the large structure that was the Belladona household. You'd think it'd be easy to find such a big building in a place like this, he thought as he dropped down onto the stairs and began making his way towards the mansion.

It was of course, slow going. Even despite the lateness of the hour, the crowd was still pretty thick, only now everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get home, making it difficult for Aegis to move very quickly. I've about had enough of this, thought Aegis as he moved into an alley and climbed up onto a nearby roof, been trying to squeeze through this cramped town for hours now and progress has not been great, you'd think by now I'd know to get on the roofs and stay on them.

Keeping his destination in sight, Aegis quickly moved along the roof tops, making much better time now that a mob of people weren't in his way. Or at least he was until he noticed three figures on another roof top a short distance away from the Belladona household. Upon closer inspection, Aegis noticed that one of the figures had a long white coat, the other had a white jacket and a monkey tail, and the third, who was in some kind of stand-off with the other two, was wielding a familiar whip-like weapon.

Oh crap, thought Aegis as he picked up his pace a bit, I think I know who that is. As he jumped to the next roof top, the girl with the whip struck at the figure with the white jacket, knocking him over with an electrified strike to his heart.

"NOOO," yelled the girl in the white coat as she moved to her friend's aid, while the girl with the whip turned and ran. No you don't, thought Aegis as he moved to head her off. Aegis landed on the roof of the next building just as the fleeing girl was running to the other end and knocked her back.

"Remember me," said Aegis as he pulled his weapon out, noting that his quarry had lost her White Fang mask, revealing her natural freckled face. "You again," said Ilia angrily as she lashed out with her weapon, "Out of my way!" Aegis knocked the first couple of strikes away with his weapon as he quickly closed the gap between them.

Ilia tried to avoid Aegis's charge by spinning to the right and striking towards his shoulder, but Aegis managed to counter attack by hitting her weapon hand with Ursus Cleaver, causing her to nearly drop her weapon as Aegis kicked her over. As Ilia hit the ground, Aegis pinned her down with his weapon, preventing her from rolling away as she tried pushing back against Aegis's raw strength with her arms.

"Mind telling me how you gave our robed friends the slip," grunted Aegis as he pushed down even harder with his weapon. "I think you've got bigger things to worry about," grunted Ilia in response, "Like where your current priorities lie."

Aegis was confused for a moment, until his sensitive ears picked up the distant sound of a panicked voice yelling for someone, anyone to help. The voice belonged to Blake. Looking back up, Aegis saw that she was trying to cover what looked like a wound on the guy's chest.

If that's Blake, then the guy right there is. Aegis's gaze darted from Ilia to Blake and back again until, with an irritated sigh, he holstered his weapon and leapt off the roof, leaving Ilia to quickly retreat into the night. Next time, thought Aegis, next time.

"Please Sun just hang on," pleaded Blake, not noticing Aegis's arrival in her distressed state. "Here use this," said Aegis as he pulled out some gauze covering and medical tape from the bag he'd brought with him. "Aegis," said a surprised Blake, unable to get any other words out for a moment, "What, what are you doing here, how?"

"We can play twenty questions in a bit," said Aegis as he moved Blake's hands away to place the gauze on Sun's wound, "But right now we need to get this wound closed up or we're gonna lose your favorite monkey boy." "R-right," said Blake as she went to work helping Aegis bandage the bloody hole in Sun's chest. In another minute, Sun's wound was covered as he laid unconscious but breathing steadily.

"Thank you Aegis," said Blake as they both sat back, relieved that Sun was alive, "I'm not sure how you got here, but thank you." "Always happy to help," said Aegis with a tired smile, "Though I think it'd be best if we discuss anything else back at your place, this roof ain't much of a place for a reunion." "No it isn't," said Blake as she grabbed Sun and looped his arm over her shoulders, "Come on, let's get this knucklehead out of here."

Atlas: Schnee Mansion Late Hours

Who in this giant mansion drinks this much alcohol, thought Wayne as he searched the Schnee family's incredibly large fridge for something else to drink, I mean seriously, are some of these labels even in English? After another few moments of searching, Wayne found a bottle of something that at least looked carbonated and didn't smell like alcohol. To be honest I really don't need another drink, but I can't think of a better way to deal with being nervous right now.

Wayne unscrewed the cap on the glass bottle and took a swig as his thoughts continued to race. It had been difficult, but after a few hours of marking up art for the staff to clean and sending the guards on wild goose chases, he and Weiss had finally managed to lead a majority of the staff to one side of the mansion, away from the library.

Wayne took a moment to savor the taste of the beverage as he went over the plan in his head one more time. Right about now the staff should be going through shift change, and the ones who were coming in would have to clean up what was left of his funny little drawings on the far side of the mansion.

While Weiss should be leaving her room with all of her stuff packed and meeting Klein right about now, thought Wayne as he finished up the drink. Not bad, he noted, it's got a good gingery taste to it with just enough carbonation to keep it interesting. As he was about to throw the glass away, the sound of footsteps caught his attention as he turned to see who had entered the kitchen.

"And what are you still doing here?" questioned Whitley Schnee, none too politely. "Well last I checked I was just getting a little bit to drink," replied Wayne, "For the road and all that." "A little," said Whitley as he saw an entire drained two-liter on the table, "One of those usually lasts my family three to four days." "It wouldn't if you got rid of all that alcohol," said Wayne, "Who in this household is drinking all that ## anyhow?"

"My mother," replied Whitley. "Oh," said Wayne, trying to decide how embarrassed he should be, "She might wanna take up a different hobby." "You still haven't answered my first question, why are you still here, I thought Father would've gotten rid of you by now," Whitley questioned once more.

"Well from what I've heard," said Wayne, "Weiss did try to have a talk with him about it, but he was too busy getting ready for some extra important meeting and was supposed to send that butler Klein to show me out, but by the looks of things he still needs to get the ball rolling on that." "Oh please," said Whitley with a sigh as he pulled out his scroll, "Allow me."

Wayne simply crossed his arms and waited as patiently as he could while Whitley called Klein and told him about the situation. "There we are," said Whitley as he ended the call on his scroll, "Now do me and the rest of my family a tremendous favor, leave and never come back."

"Believe me I'm ready to get out of here," said Wayne as he went to exit the kitchen, stopping just in the doorway, "But just so we're clear, I only do favors for one member of your family at the moment, keep that in mind."

Without another word, Wayne went out the doorway and scanned the hall until he found who he was looking for. "Ah there you are Mr. Ursario," said Klein as he came around the corner "You'll find the way out this way, ACHOO."

Klein's eyes shifted to blue as he sneezed, "We'd better hurry," said Klein in a suddenly higher-pitched voice, "We'll be in all sorts of trouble if they catch us."

"Eh, yeah," said Wayne, still not used to Klein's changes in personality, "Let's do that." "This way," said Klein as he led Wayne down the hall for a ways before stopping at a book case. "This better not be what I think it is," said Wayne as he watched Klein fiddle with one of the books.

"If you mean a faster way," replied Klein as a click sounded and he pulled back the book case to reveal a secret passage way, "It most certainly is." "The secret door behind the book case," said Wayne as he followed after Klein, closing it behind him, "Shoulda seen that one coming."

"It ain't no secret if you don't keep your voice down," said Klein, as his eyes turned red and his personality changed again. "Right got it," said Wayne, somewhat apologetically as they made their way through the twists and turns of the passageway.

After a couple minutes of walking, they arrived at another door, the one to the first floor library, Wayne guessed. Before opening the door, they both listened for a moment, making sure the way was clear, when a whisper cut through the silence of the library.

"Klein," said Weiss, a note of worry in her voice, "Where are you?" In answer, Klein pushed the door open and beckoned Weiss over. "Keep your voice down, we're here alright," said Klein as Wayne stood against the wall and waved. Instead of answering, Weiss dropped her suit case and Myternaster as she ran over and hugged Klein, who shifted back to his normal personality and hugged Weiss back.

"Are you sure Mistral is safe," asked Klein as they took a step back from each other. Wayne had to stop himself from laughing at the question as he moved further into the passage way, not wanting to spoil the moment.

"No," Weiss answered, "But Winter will be there." "After tonight, she may be the only family you have," said Klein. "I'll still have you," said Weiss.

"You most certainly will," agreed Klein before the loud crash of a door being busted open was heard. "KLEIN," called the voice of Jacque Schnee, "KLEIN GET DOWN HERE!"

"Go," urged Klein as Weiss picked up her bag and weapon and entered the passageway next to Wayne. Before Klein closed the passageway, Weiss turned back to thank Klein one more time.

Klein simply nodded with a sad smile as he closed the door behind them. For a moment, Weiss simply stood there, staring at the wall until Wayne put a hand on her shoulder. "We have to go Weiss," he said softly. Weiss simply nodded her head as she slowly turned and began making her way down the stairs with Wayne right behind her.

For the first several minutes they said nothing, as Weiss seemed to move almost mechanically, just one foot in front of the other while she stared straight ahead with Wayne following close behind.

"It's going to be a bit difficult at first," said Wayne finally, trying to break the silence, "Leaving the place you've called home your whole life, it hurts the most when you're just starting out."

"How long does it take to stop hurting," asked Weiss, in a somewhat sad voice. "I don't think anyone ever truly stops missing home," said Wayne as they took another couple of turns down the stairs and into an underground tunnel lit with some kind of emergency lights, "I just know it becomes manageable after a while."

"What was it like for you," asked Weiss, "Leaving home behind." "Well I had Aegis along for the ride like always," said Wayne, "And our Grandparents understood why we felt we had to go, so that helped, but the two things that really kept me going on the worst days was knowing that at the end of the journey, I'd see my friends again, and that some way somehow, I'd also make it back home."

"It is a reassuring thought," said Weiss as they stepped out into a large cavern-like area. "Still," said Wayne, "You've got it a little rougher, I mean me, Aegis, Ruby and the others have got some sort of home to go back to, but you, you're leaving a home which may never welcome you back and striking out on your own. To be honest I'd be almost scared out of my mind to do what you're doing right now."

"I am a bit scared," said Weiss as she turned towards Wayne, "But you're wrong about one thing." "What's that," asked Wayne.

"I'm not on my own," Said Weiss as she holstered Myternaster and put her hand on Wayne's arm, "Because I have you here." Wayne stood silently for a moment, wondering for a second if his friend's head was on straight.

In the end, however, Wayne simply smiled as he spoke. "You give me too much credit," said Wayne as he took Weiss's hand in both of his, "But alright, let's-." The rest of his sentence was interrupted, though, as a pair of heavy, clanking foot-steps sounded within the cavern as a pair of giant, walking armored suits stepped out of the shadows, each one wielding an enormous broadsword.

"I guess I shouldn't have expected it to be so easy," said Weiss as she and Wayne both dropped their bags and drew their weapons, "Just in case, what was it you wanted to say." Wayne smirked before answering, "Let's take on the world together." Weiss smiled in response as the battle with the Giant Armors began.

 **Aegis has made contact and Wayne and Weiss's escape has begun, with only two large, metal obstacles standing between them and freedom. And once again, I'd like to say hello and thank you to all my reviewers, followers, and viewers for all your patience, support, and suggestions as I've try to think up the next crazy and/or heart warming ideas for this little story. Be sure to stop in next time as Wayne helps Weiss fight for her freedom, and Aegis meets the parents of everyone's favorite cat Faunus, and I guess Sun's there too. 'Til next time.**


	56. WOR: Rage Mode & Aura Shadow

**World of Remnant: Rage Mode and Aura Shadow**

The Ursario Rage Mode:

Hello, this is Raven Branwen, and for those of you who are wondering what happened to Qrow explaining things, well it seems my dear brother has skipped out, likely nursing yet another hang over. So here I am covering for him, yet again, so let's see what we have for today. Oh, well this might actually be right up my alley. The Faunus Rage mode and the Aura Shadow.

Let's start with the simpler one to explain first, rage mode, which has been given several names since it was first observed among the Faunus, like berserker state, the feral rage, or Predator's fury, just to name a few. Some records date the abilities use almost as far back as some of humanity's first conflicts with the Faunus. As for where it comes from and how it works, well to put it simply the rage mode is often a genetic trait found in the more predatory Faunus, like wolf or bear Faunus, though there have been rumors of some Faunus developing the ability on their own, without the help of genetics. When triggered, the rage mode grants the user enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, and much less vulnerability to pain.

For the ability to be used, one triggers a chemical reaction within themselves by focusing their thoughts in much the same way one would activate an aura, only the main trigger is primal, animalistic rage which is most often directed at one or more opponents. Hence, the eventual naming of the ability as the rage mode. Quite often, the ability's activation is marked by scarlet or golden predatory eyes, though some cases have been reported of Faunus becoming even more animal-like, with sharper fangs and claws.

The obvious downside of this ability, though, is it is still an enraged state of both body and mind, which limits the user's ability to think creatively, and even with the amount of practice and control required to reach the point of being able to use and control the rage mode on command, they still suffer from having a bit of a one track mind when it comes to the destruction of their enemies, making them vulnerable to a crafty opponent who has the patience and ability to wear them down.

This particular ability has most often been seen during times of war, which are understandably trying times which usually bring out the rage in all of us, and it is usually these times of war which see the largest and most varied numbers of rage mode users. Over the years, several Faunus families and warrior clans have been noted using the ability. One of the most famously noted warrior clans in the last hundred years to be seen using this ability, who are still alive anyway, is the Ursario warrior clan, or simply the Ursario family now.

Aura Shadow:

Now the Aura Shadow is a beast of a different nature in both how it's attained and activated, but still very destructive to the Enemy, and sometimes the one who's using it. Now how and why is it destructive to the user, well the best way to explain that is to go back to the time where the ability, some might call it more of a technique, originated. It was first discovered and utilized during the earlier days of mankind, when there was still a bit to learn about the nature of aura.

Now as we've learned, everyone has some light in their soul, and some darkness. What is used today is mainly the light side of the soul which provides protection and healing to the one utilizing it. Like aura, the Aura Shadow can technically be unlocked and used by anyone, human or Faunus, to varying degrees, but it requires a special ritual developed millennia ago to unlock it, a ritual which uses specialized dust symbols drawn on the future user and the skills of one experienced in unlocking and manipulating Aura. Some say it can be a bit painful, but exhilarating as well, depending on who you are. As its name suggests, it is a manifestation of the shadows or darkness in one's soul.

If the regular aura provides healing and protection through positive energy, in a fairly subtle way, then the Aura Shadow provides increased power and physical ability by negative energy, while being projected in the form of what appears as black mist radiating from the user's body, as well as lowering the user's restraint when it comes to how much damage they're willing to deal to an enemy. Unlike the regular aura, which can be activated and used for hours or even days without the slightest ill-effect, the Aura Shadow can only be activated for a short time, often making it a last resort in a conflict. How long the ability can be utilized depends on the user's mastery of the ability, but why is this you might ask.

Well to activate the Aura Shadow, one must focus on and then control their pain, sadness, and anger which is most often achieved by recalling painful events and feelings in one's life to manifest the negative energy which powers the ability. To put it even more simply, if laughter is the best medicine, then sadness and rage are like sicknesses which can harm the heart and soul over time. And, of course, since this is negative energy we're talking about, the use of the Aura Shadow often has the unintended effect of attracting nearby Grimm to the user, which is one of the main reasons that the practice of the ability was eventually banned.

The other reason the ability is no longer widely seen was that it posed a danger of corrupting the user, turning them into vicious killers of not only Grimm, but people over time through too many repeated uses. These consequences did not stop some determined clans from passing down the ability through their families, however, especially the clans of the ones who mastered the Aura Shadow by fully accepting their dark half without letting it consume them, which is a far more tricky proposition than one would think. One of the most famous clans in recent years to wield the Aura Shadow is the De Wolfe clan, or what's left of it after the Great War, with its most famous member Argus De Wolfe even being branded with the name Grimm Wolf, due to his monstrous power and vicious skill on the battlefield.

Today, most people don't even know that this technique exists, a product of the scholars of old cutting its mention from most texts, branding it as a dangerous technique which would bring more harm than good. But for those of us who do know about it, most of us are split between two differing opinions, with one side thinking it should be buried completely, never to be used or even mentioned again. Others, like me, still believe that there are a small handful out there capable of using the technique, so long as they are able to accept the darkness within themselves. I just hope we'll have enough time to find out.

 **Hello everyone, and let me be the first to say, I know I know, I probably ruined the flow of the story a little by including this, the first World of Remnant segment, and forgetting to mention it in my last chapter. But I do have a reason, I'm just at a bit of a crossroads right now with where I want to continue with the next chapter, so I thought I'd take the time to answer some questions everyone might've had about Wayne and Aegis's new abilities. But don't worry, I'm working on cranking out at least one or two more chapters of story. As always, thank you to my reviewers, followers, and viewers for your support and understanding. Be sure to stop in next chapter as Aegis, Blake, and Sun make plans for taking on the White Fang, while Wayne and Weiss deal with the final obstacle of the Schnee mansion.**


	57. So Long as the Sun Rises

**So Long as the Sun Rises**

Atlas: Underground of the Schnee Mansion

As the giant armors lumbered forward, Weiss stabbed her weapon into the ground and created a large glyph. In another instant, a giant, glowing white knight appeared with its sword held high as the two armors brought their swords down on the two escapees. The glowing armor raised its sword and blocked both strikes as it was forced down on one knee by its two larger opponents. As the glowing knight struggled to hold both of them off, Wayne and Weiss jumped off of the summons's shoulders and slashed at the helmets of the two armors, causing them to move back in what appeared to be surprise.

Landing behind the armors, the two fighters jumped back and slashed at the back of the armor's knees, knocking them off balance as the glowing knight shoved them both back, causing them to stumble to their knees as the summon disappeared. Acting quickly, Weiss sent a yellow glyph at Wayne, which formed under his feet as it caused a yellow glow to radiate from his body.

"Now I've definitely missed this," said Wayne, now able to quickly charge and release two powerful, boomerang shaped blasts which impacted against the armors before they could stand up, sending them both sliding across the ground.

"I hope my power up glyphs aren't all you missed," said Weiss as she stood next to the still glowing Wayne as she generating several floating glyphs around them and the rest of the area as the two armors stood back up.

"I've also missed trying new combinations," said Wayne as he put his sickles together into a staff which he held out for Weiss, who put her blade on top of the weapon.

"Well I have wanted to try this one for a while now," said Weiss as the two armors stood up and charged at them again. Weiss absorbed some of the energy from Wayne into Myternaster, causing the blade's engravings to glow white as the two of them charged their weapons for the next attack.

As the two armors brought their swords down on the duo, Wayne and Weiss leaped out of the way with blinding speed, propelled in opposite directions by the glyph as they bounced off one glyph after another, hitting the armors with an onslaught of slashes. The armors could only swing around in a dazed and confused manner, until their two targets landed on one final glyph suspended in midair. With a final battle cry, the two friends pushed off of the glyph, their weapons glowing with energy as they slashed straight through the two armors, destroying the possession type Grimm within them.

Wayne and Weiss landed lightly as the two empty suits came crashing to the ground behind them, now only two lifeless hunks of metal. "Whew," sighed Wayne as he caught his breath and returned his weapons to his coat, "Were those things the same type of monster you had to fight before your father let you go to Beacon?"

Weiss sighed as she answered, "Yes, I guess he thought two would stand a better chance after I managed to beat the first one." Wayne snorted a bit at that comment, "For someone who puts such, ahem, high expectations on his children, that guy has got a really bad habit of underestimating you," he said.

"He only ever wanted me to be like him," said Weiss as they circled back around and picked up their bags, "But I stopped being his obedient little girl some time ago, so the sooner we leave, the better."

Wayne and Weiss made their way to the cavern's exit, walking in a tense silence for a few moments. "So uh," Wayne started as he attempted to break the silence, "Once we get out of here, any ideas how we're supposed to leave Atlas?"

"I've got a couple," said Weiss as they arrived at a large, locked door at the end of the cavern. With a quick flourish of her weapon, Weiss froze the lock on the door, while Wayne slammed his shoulder into a precise point on the lock, shattering it into pieces. Then, groaning with a bit of effort, Wayne forced the large door open, revealing a snow covered path lit by the moonlight.

"Well in that case," said Wayne, rubbing his now hurt shoulder a bit as he held the large door open for Weiss in the most gentlemanly way possible, "This way to freedom."

Kuo Kuana: Belladona Residence: The Morning After

"So you're another one of my daughter's friends from Beacon if I am understanding correctly," Said Ghira Belladona as he and Blake's mother, Kali, sat on pillows across from Aegis at a lowered kitchen table. "Yep, Aegis Ursario of team WA at your service," he said with a bit of a bow, "I'm uh, not sure if Blake's mentioned me?"

Ghira Belladona was a tall man with dark hair, yellow cat eyes, cat ears and a large beard, wearing a large purple coat with some armor shaped like a lion's head on his left shoulder. His wife Kali also had cat ears and yellow eyes, wearing a black and white robe with yellow piercings in her cat ears.

"Her friend Sun certainly has," said Kali, "Apparently you and your older brother have had some, entertaining interactions with our daughter's team, RWBY I believe it was called." "You could say that," said Aegis with a bit of a laugh, "I'll tell you all about it later, but right now we got some more pressing issues."

Aegis pulled out his scroll and opened up the files of the White Fang. "I was told you were the former head of the White Fang Mr. B," he said as he slid the scroll across the table to Ghira, "I'm pretty sure you don't need me to explain what this data means."

Ghira, after exchanging a glance with his wife, picked up the scroll and opened one of the files, quickly skimming through its contents. "Where did you get this exactly," asked Ghira as he looked back at Aegis with a raised eyebrow. "From an ex-White Fang member, the same one who told me where Blake was headed," replied Aegis, "I'm sure you two and your daughter are familiar with Drake Beller."

"Drake's left the White Fang," questioned Kali, "That's incredible, the last we saw of him he was even more adamant about the White Fang's goals than Blake was, what finally made him leave?" "Apparently, my big brother and me," answered Aegis, "If you watched the Vytal Festival tournament, he was there, and we just barely managed to beat 'em in the doubles round."

"So it really was him at the tournament," said Ghira as he stroked his beard in thought, "I hardly recognized him the way he was acting, and those scars around his eyes, how did he even get those?"

"He, uh, kind of got those from Wayne," said Aegis as he rubbed the back of his head, "He attacked my older brother a couple years back and Wayne blasted him in self-defense with his semblance, his whole reason for coming to the Vytal tournament was getting revenge on him."

"Well it's, uh, good that it didn't work out then," said Kali, "Drake used to be far more pleasant of an individual before he joined the White Fang and embraced their more, violent ideals." "Well he got the sense knocked back into 'em, a bit literally," said Aegis, "Now he's out of the White Fang, hopefully for good, and trying to make things right."

"Well this data is certainly a good start," said Ghira as he continued looking through it, "It'll take me some time to read most of this though, so I apologize for not giving you an immediate answer as to whether or not we'll help you."

"Take your time," said Aegis as he stood up, "I'd actually like a few moments to catch up with my friends if that's alright with you?"

"You may," said Kali, "But know that she's been in a bit of a mood ever since you both brought Sun back." "Wouldn't be the first time," said Aegis as he turned to leave, "But I think me and Sun can set her straight."

"Good luck with that," said Ghira as he and Kali also stood, "My daughter can be a bit stubborn about certain things." "Well at least she hasn't changed much," said Aegis with a smile as he headed for the door, "But thanks for the warning."

A Few Minutes Later

I've seen that look before, thought Aegis as he peered into the room where Blake and Sun were. The aforementioned monkey Faunus had woken up shortly before Aegis got there, and already Blake was laying into him. Ordinarily Aegis would've gone in right there, but he wanted to hear the reason why Blake had run this time.

"Do you believe I'm alone because I like to be," Aegis heard Blake say, "I think about my friends every day, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, I loved them more than I thought I could love anybody and I hope they hate me for leaving, it's better that way."

"You can't really mean that," Sun said. "Yes I do!," Blake shouted back, "You and everyone else thinks they can help me, but they can't, just look at what Ilia did to you and she's not even the worst out there."

Blake paused for a moment before continuing, "No, I don't want this to happen anymore, you're all better off without me, I made my choices and I'll deal with the consequences."

"You really do think you're being selfless," said Sun as he slowly readjusted himself on the coach, "But you're not, I mean sure chameleon girl got me pretty good, but I'd do it again so long as it meant protecting you."

Aegis smirked to himself a little, surprised that his goof ball of a friend could actually make a serious point. "We can't stop you from making your own choices," continued Sun, "But you can't make ours, when your friends fight for you it's because they choose too."

"And personally," said Aegis as he finally entered the room, "I don't think you give us enough credit, I mean look at our occupation, personal safety's kind of secondary." "Aegis," said Sun, "When did you get here?"

"Last night," said Aegis as he plopped down in one of the nearby chairs, "I helped Blake drag your unconscious $$ back here, you seemed to be having a bit of an off night." "Well just wait for round two," said Sun, "I'll get her back for this-ou."

Sun winced as he held himself where he'd been wounded, the look on his face surprisingly comical. Despite her best efforts, Blake couldn't help but laugh at her two hard-headed friends.

That is until the door to the deck suddenly fell open due to her mother leaning against it, obviously eavesdropping. "Oh look dear, he's awake," said Kali, trying to act innocent. "Kali," groaned Ghira as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"Mom!" exclaimed Blake, clearly embarrassed by her mother's intrusion. "Hey Mrs. B," said Sun, smiling weakly.

"Mom what's going on," asked Blake. "Oh that, well your father needs to have a word with you and your friends."

"I guess that means he's finished looking through the data," said Aegis as he leaned forward in the chair, listening more intently. "What data," asked Blake?

Ghira pulled out Aegis's scroll and set it on the table with all of the files on the White Fang displayed on the screen. "You were right about the White Fang," said Ghira, "Adam Taurus is planning a coup to overthrow Sienna Khan and then he'll use the White Fang to attack Haven Academy, it'll be Beacon all over again."

"Not if we take the White Fang down," said Sun with a serious tone in his voice, "This time for good." "No," said Blake as she stood up, determination etched on her features, "We're not going to destroy the White Fang, we're going to take it back."

"Shoot, whether we take 'em down or take 'em back," Said Aegis as he brought his fist to his hand, "I don't care so long as we take it to 'em." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Several plans were made as the day wore on. At one point, Aegis caught Blake alone, pulling an old banner out of a box of mementos hidden in her father's desk. "I'm guessing that's the old White Fang flag," said Aegis, startling Blake.

"Oh Aegis," said Blake as she looked back down at the flag, "Yes, this was our old colors, before father stepped down, before-."

"Before all the extremist douche-baggery," Aegis finished for Blake, "And teaming up with agents of evil bent on world domination." "Pretty much," said Blake, her cat ears drooping a bit, "It seemed so clear back then, simple even, just bring our problems to the world's attention and things would change."

"Things always seem simpler when you're a kid," said Aegis, "The world seems smaller and you feel like you might even have the solutions to all of its problems, until you learn just how complex the world can actually be, and how not everyone wants what's best, for the world or other people."

"And then you try new approach after new approach," said Blake, continuing for Aegis as she glanced from the old White Fang flag to the current one, "Until, before you know it, you've lost your way completely." "The White Fang's lost its way," said Aegis, "But you haven't."

"How can you be sure of that," asked Blake, "Before now I didn't even know what I was gonna do once I got here, and I'm still not even sure what I'm gonna do if and when we try to take back control of the White Fang." "I can think of a few ideas," said Aegis, "Like taking out Adam and Cinder ## #."

"That is a start I suppose," said Blake, cheering up slightly. "You know what they say," said Aegis, "One problem at a time, so let's just worry about the White Fang for the moment, and take care of the rest afterwards." "I guess both you and your brother can give good advice from time to time," said Blake.

"Hey I just like to keep things simple," said Aegis. "Where is Wayne anyway," asked Blake, "I thought for sure you two would be traveling together, and come to think of it, how did you manage to get here anyway?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to explain that fully," said Aegis, "Me and Wayne were traveling together when we ran into Drake, but we also ran into a bandit chief lady with the ability to cut portals with a huge sword, that's how I was able to get here from Mistral, as for Wayne, well, since we couldn't send anyone with Faunus ears or a random stranger like Drake's girlfriend, May, Wayne took it upon himself to go see the ice queen."

"You mean right now Wayne's all the way in-," Blake started to say. "Yep," said Aegis, "At the top of the world."

Atlas: Airship Hangar

It had taken a good bit of time to get clear of the Schnee mansion and through the city. But eventually, they made it down to the hangars where the commercial airships docked for transporting goods in and out of Atlas.

It had taken even longer to find a pilot, given the nature of their request. But at long last, they'd arrived at a hangar which housed a brown cargo ship, an older model to be sure, but one which Wayne and Weiss both hoped would be their ticket out of Atlas.

"So what's the story exactly," asked the pilot as he leaned against his airship, starting to count the lien Weiss had given him, "You kids running away from home." "It's complicated," said Weiss, "But to put it simply we need to get out of Atlas."

"Well you're clearly not from the low class miss," said the Pilot, "Oh wait, I got it, this guy here," the Pilot pointed at Wayne, "Stole your heart but you two can't get together because he's from a lower class and there's no way your family would allow something like that."

"What!" Exclaimed Wayne and Weiss at the same time. "That's not what's going on at all!" Weiss managed to force out while her face was flushed with embarrassment. "I'm just a friend," said Wayne, almost beet red himself, "If it helps, just think of me as her bodyguard."

"Shoot you wanna run away with your bodyguard," said the pilot with a smirk, "That's a better love story than the last few I've watched lately."

"We are not-," Weiss was getting more flustered by the second, so much so she could barely speak. "We're just friends," said Wayne, doing his best to stay focused despite how uncomfortable he was becoming with the conversation, "No secret love stuff, no running off to get married, just friends."

Eventually Weiss sighed as she recomposed herself. "Look, all we need is to get out of Atlas and head to Mistral as fast as possible," said Weiss, "So will you take the job or not?"

"Well you are paying me pretty good here," said the pilot as he finished counting the lien, "So you can hide out in the back of the cargo hold and I'll take you as far as I can, but just so we're clear, you get caught you're on your own."

"We can work with that," said Wayne as he and Weiss stepped on board the airship. In another minute, the airship's engines hummed to life as it rose and flew through the hangar doors and out into the slowly receding Atlas night.

Some Time Later

Concentrate, thought Wayne as he sat on a shipping crate in a meditative position, summon forth enough anger and pain for what you need and direct it towards your goal. As he continued to focus, his body began to produce black mist as the Aura Shadow formed. Now comes the more difficult part, thought Wayne, control it and don't allow it to overtake you.

"Still trying for control like always," said a distorted voice, prompting Wayne to open his eyes and look at his reflection, or rather, the black coated shadowy figure which haunted his dreams back in Mistral, "But there's something a little different now." "As much as I love these nightmare chats," said Wayne, "I thought I told you before, go back where you belong."

"And here I was coming to address your new found sense of confusion," said the Figure. "Last I checked my motivations were pretty clear," said Wayne as he hopped off the container and approached the window of the airship.

"It's not your motivations I'm referring to," said the figure as he pointed at Weiss, who was on another crate nearby, "It's your newfound affection for your white-haired friend sleeping over there."

"I thought all you cared about was me embracing my so-called potential," said Wayne, "What's this got to do with anything?" "Isn't it obvious," said the figure, "Ever since you've reunited with the now former heiress, you've started looking at her as more than just a friend."

Wayne involuntarily clenched his fist a little, somewhat surprised by the statement. "So what, you're saying I've got feelings for her now, which sounds ridiculous by the way?" He asked. "I'm your darker half, remember," said the figure as a red glow began emanating from his eyes, "I know all your thoughts, even the ones you try to deny."

"Is their some kind of a point to this," asked Wayne as he took another step towards the window. "The fact of the matter is you're starting to feel for Weiss exactly what you used to feel for Emerald," said the figure, "And with that comes fear."

"More like anger," said Wayne as his eyes narrowed, "If you know my thoughts then you know Emerald is a sore spot, so thanks for that."

"And that's where the fear and confusion lie," said the Figure, "Confusion because even you aren't completely sure what you feel for her at the moment, but more importantly, fear."

The background of the glass suddenly lit up as a burning landscape filled the view behind the shadowy figure as his voice rose in intensity. "You fear losing her to the dark forces out there, just like you lost your other two friends, so the choice stands before you once more Wayne Ursario!"

As the figure spoke, Wayne's anger continued to build until he finally reached a breaking point, "Will you continue wasting your time practicing or will you take the power that is yours!"

"RAAAAAAAAARGH!" Wayne roared as he lost what little self-control he had left and viciously punched the glass, causing it to shatter as flame and shadows came pouring through.

"AAArgh!" Wayne yelled as he fell off the crate and hit his head on one of the other containers. "Ou, that is not a good way to wake up in the morning," said Wayne as he rubbed his head.

"Wayne," asked Weiss in a slightly worried voice as she hopped off of her luggage, "Are you alright." "Jumbo nightmare," said Wayne as he stood up, still rubbing his head a little as he approached the window, "Sorry if I woke you." "Don't be, I couldn't sleep anyway," said Weiss.

"Don't tell me you're having nightmares too," said Wayne as he sat down on a container next to the window. "Just a little anxious I guess," Said Weiss as she sat down next to Wayne, "I've got no idea what we're gonna find in Mistral, or if anyone will even be waiting for us when we get there, I mean I believe in our friends, but I still worry."

Wayne leaned back on the container a bit as he tried to think of what to say to that. After a few moments, something came to mind. "You know when me and Aegis had trouble sleeping, after we got older and our huntsman training had started," said Wayne, "Mom and Dad would tell us to find something to occupy ourselves, like read a book, get some extra training in, double check our weapons, whatever we needed to do to make ourselves sleepy."

Wayne looked out the window as he noted the changing color of the sky, before continuing. "But on the days when we woke up early in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep, they'd tell us to go and watch the sunrise, now I don't know about anyone else but it always managed to calm us down, 'cause in that moment when the sun was rising on a new day, everything just seemed right with the world."

Weiss looked like she wanted to respond, but at that moment, the sun came up over Atlas, reflecting off of the many snow covered mountain tops as she gazed out at it in wonder. In another moment, she smiled.

"You know," said Weiss as she turned back to Wayne, "Whenever I had trouble sleeping, Mother and Father would tell me that a Schnee isn't afraid of nightmares, so I had to go to my sister, she had several ways to help me sleep, but there was one which always worked better than the others." "What was it," asked Wayne.

Instead of answering immediately, Weiss leaned against Wayne and rested her head on his shoulder. "Uh Weiss," said Wayne, "You feeling okay, because I don't think Neptune would approve of this?"

"He's been a bit of a pain lately, but let's not talk about that," said Weiss, "Anyway we'd just stay close together, sometimes for hours, we'd tell each other stories, we'd talk about our days, and if we were both frustrated, we'd find something funny to laugh about until we both fell asleep."

"So, uh," Wayne tried to think of what to say, "Did you have something in mind you wanted to talk about?" "Could you tell me what your family is like," asked Weiss, "What it was like, growing up with a Mother and Father like yours?"

"Oh where to begin," said Wayne as he scratched the side of his head in thought, "A lot of days were good, some days were bad, some days I was afraid I was gonna die, actually I had several days like that."

"What were the good days like?" asked Weiss. "Memorable," said Wayne as he began a story about one of his family's celebrations one year. As Wayne told one story after another about his family, Weiss's expression would shift from neutral, to happy, to simply shaking her head when Wayne told her about some of his family's antics.

Before long, Weiss's eyes began to close but not before she got one last comment in. "Wayne," Weiss said. "Yeah," answered Wayne. "Tell anyone about this and I'll turn you into an ice sculpture," said Weiss sleepily.

"As you wish," said Wayne with a smile, before continuing. Before long, Weiss nodded off, smiling at the sunrise as she did so. She really does look cute when she's sleeping, thought Wayne as he brushed some of her hair out of her closed eyes.

Tomorrow really can be a scary thing, thought Wayne as he looked out the window himself, but the sun is rising and we're still here. So there's still a chance, to see our friends, to stop what's going to happen and, Wayne glanced back at Weiss one more time, a chance to take down those who threaten the ones close to us.

Wayne clenched his fist as he looked out the window. I hope you're prepared, he thought, Cinder, Salem, Emerald, because we're coming for you.

End of Volume 4

 **And at last, volume 4 has come to a close. First off, I know this took a little longer than some of the others, but I was wrestling with this decision for a while. Now first, let me just say this, I am not done with this story yet, there's at least one more volume to go in the RWBY series, and I am greatly looking forward to it. That being said, I also feel I've taken volume 4 as far as I can without it becoming dragged out, so for now this story is on a bit of a hiatus until volume 5 comes out. Now some good news, when volume five comes out, I'll start working on Volume 5 for this story and begin posting chapters again. In the mean time, I'm going to be branching out a bit with more fan fiction, so be on the look out for fan fictions of My Hero Academia, Star Wars, God Eater(the anime), and more. Also, know that I am open to suggestions for other stories to try writing. So once more, I'd like to thank you all my reviewers, followers, and viewers for motivating me and helping me to make this story better than I ever knew it could be, and if all goes well, we'll see the return of Team WA very soon. 'Til next time.**


	58. Volume 2 Info

Hello everyone, Masked Spider here with a message for all my readers of this story. The newest chapters of Team WA will be appearing in a new story titled 'The Adventures of Team WA: Volume 2.' So if you're waiting for new chapters, just find the story on my page. And just so no one's disappointed about not finding a chapter here, enjoy a couple of excerpts from my upcoming chapters of volume 2. Note: Some of these might be subject to change depending on how the story goes.

Preview Excerpts:

Excerpt 1: "If I remember right, you still need to work on your hand to hand, so we're gonna need to set Myrtenaster aside for a bit," explained Wayne. "This is your big idea," said Weiss with a raised eyebrow, "You want to hit each other for a bit."

Excerpt 2: "There's a bit of a problem with that," said the warthog Faunus as he turned to face Aegis, "You see my organization is paying good lien for someone to bring YOU IN!" The warthog faunus pulled out a double barrel shotgun with a large blade and tried pointing it at Aegis. But Aegis caught the weapon with his left hand, pointing it away from him as it discharged into the side of a nearby building.

Excerpt 3: "Then what should I do Aegis?!" Exclaimed Blake, "I know she can't want the destruction of Haven, she's not like Adam!" "But she still listens to him," said Aegis, "If she continues following the White Fang you're gonna have to face her eventually and if you can't do that she'll wind up hurting the friends you have now!"

"So I should just cut her down the next time I see her?"

Excerpt 4: "Look out!" yelled Weiss as a burning airship comes flying into view. "Oh crap!" Exclaims the pilot as he swerves the airship out of the way, barely missing the burning wreckage as it crashes into one of the floating land masses and explodes. "So much for a peaceful airship ride," Comments Wayne.

Excerpt 5: "HAHAHAHAHA," laughed an all too familiar voice as Wayne turned towards the smoke of the burning wreckage, "I don't know what's worse, you just happening to land near this particular bandit camp or the possibility that this might've been her plan all along!"

Excerpt 6: " # $ it," said Aegis as he removes his weapon from his back and takes a fighting stance, "This is the kind of politics I can get behind."


End file.
